WAIRARAPA ELECTORATE

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10487, 25 November 1911, Page 5

WAIRARAPA ELECTORATE

MR W. C. BUCHANAN AT FEftN* RIDGE.

uMir W. C. Buchanan addressed a fair mestiaig of electors in the Feanaikl'ge school) last night. Mr H. Evans, who occupied' the cnair, introduced' the speaker. 'Mr Buchanan, on rising, was received] wlitQi applause. He began by .protesting ta'gainsfc the action, of the Prime Minister in- delaying the op?ning of Pai'Ofi'ament m such antant year. It meant the hurrying through of (bu sines si and long night sittings. It also prevented members from property conducting t'lioir campaigns, owing to t3ie short time available. Mr Buchiaoian said it was no wonder that measures got on the Statute Bbok which were not intended' by either party. He theai briefly outlined the work done during the ■session.

WORKERS' DWELLINGS. Mr Buchanan criticised the Governmeait's action an- refusing Mr' Massey'si suggestion to make advances to (labourers to buiild housesi, and ihen at the foUiowiing seas ion passing o similar proposal as their own.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. 'Hie Opposition had been- urging the Government to amend th)e constitution of the Legislative Council. The present system wasi a faliiliure. Many of the m-emibleirst in the Council were there entirely owing to political/ preference. He referred tio Sir John ESndlay's appointment, stating that he had .been defeated at an eliectiton, and lhadi had absolutely no experience. Dr Hindliay was recommendied by Sir. Joseph Ward (without anything to warrant it) to the King for Knighthood. The speaker condemned tliis action as undemocratic.

FINANCE. Speaking of the finances of the Dtomrinion, Mri Buchanan stated that Biucih a (prosperous country sifaoulid undoubtedly be self-supporting. But -tlhe umwilse borrowing poMcy of the Government had resulted, last year, in an increase of £6,850,000 in the public debt. -This borrowing had resulted in extravagance and overspending; He referred to the immense wasite caused by the 00-oper-ative system of laying railway ljinea. The Dunedin railway station, WtelHfingfam, Post Office, and. AucMand Post Office were mentioned as immense Ministerial blunders. Mr Buchanan also (stated that he knew of hundredsi being tost in the forming of roads and' erecting of bridge® by antiquated methods. Many of the road® were a disgrace. The grades in some places aJtmost impossible to ascend. This, said Mr Budhianan,, was going on all over t!he country. The excessive ooet of railway construction was the cause of thfp small returns oarttlhe working of thle liriesi

-/TAXATION. f The : Government tolkJ of the reductionsrin (taxation,, but it never told ofwtihe increases. Twenty-four years agpt> thi&.'taxatibn per liead was £§ 2s lldi, and it was now £4 4s 2d per head), witch meant £1,071,000 to the ■taxpayers per year. .The taxation in 'New Zealand was i3s more- than in. Anstralria. The cost of living had thusi increased, and the Government was not in a pbsiition to deny it. One of the ways to get over tibe difficulty would be to» stop borrowing, but we had a plunging (Prime Minister, and it was impossible to get thp statistic®. In 1906 tihie Premier toH Parliament that £26,048,000 of the public debt was not interest bearing. Since then the dipbt had been in or cased' by nearly £19,000,000, and much of this, not being interest bearing, (was becoming a .burden on the taxpayers. In 3-909 the Premier stated (tlhiat for every £1,000,000 increase ini ~t!ie pubitto debt the assets of the country were increased iby £10,000,000, in 1910 by £3,000,000, s and this year rather over £10,000,000. Nobody couM ptoseiibly rfecoricile .siuch statements.' 'Mb Buchanan said lu> Ihbped' that' on election day the country wiouldl go a long way towfarde changing the Government, flhe present Government shb wed no prudence, and under its hand Large sums' of mbney were being wasted. THE LAND QUESTION.

The candidate outlined the land policy of ithe Opposition, quoting aigumientsi in support of tihe freehold tenure. Be read a (speech of tho Hon. J. A. Millar, in which the latter declared' he wouMi aliwaysi oppose (the freehold, and tKhat at a man's dearth, tihe lease of any Grown Hand wtouHd' be terminated. Thus, ths wife and' children wouM be left destitute. Mr Buchanan gave /these as the opsnionis. of one who aspired to the Prime Mihistership. The Government had promised to spend a certain <?uru on t3ie purchase of land for settlement, biut only a very small portion of jthat money had been expended. Thteir excuse was tihiat tihe Hand was too dear. ■Yet, hard-{headed, conscientious settflters paid higher prices thlan tho.'e at which the "Government refused 1 to buy, and-, Mr Buchanan said, the people ought to have grave doubts as to the capabilities of the Goveraa;..-nt in carrying out the Dominion's business. The speaker also ciirljisea the

"Government's action in connection •wi£h tile iMiokau transaction. SOME FIGURES CORRECTED. •Mr Buchanan proceeded l to arifc : - - I isie some of Mr J. T. M. Hornsby'* I statements. He stated that Mr Hornshy liad been credited with stating that 693 peoplte owned an aggregate of 19,086,000 acres, being ftifarly a third l of the surface of Now Zea fland. The member read statistics j to show that the whole of the fjvchold land in New Zealiand, excepting | small; it own, seotionsi, was 19.575,01)0 acres-, and tilie number of owners was 48,922* Mr Horn shy's statv-meut fliais an absolute absurdity. Mr Hornsiby Snail attempted to conw his misifcake by stating that lie meant leasehold as well 1 as freehoM; huteven then the figures were entirely wrong. Mr Hcrnsby had also been j reported to have s«id that the popu- | lation of .Great- Britain had been decreasing owing to emigr.-.ti-n, nhna the true state of affairs --.bowed thai J the population had nearly <ioub'ed itjseflif in forty ytars.. Mr Uuchanan 6aid' he feiit bound to eor.-»v:t Mr Hornsby's mistakes. | CONCLUSION. | In conclusion, the candidate said .that on the 7th December every mac. and 'woman over 21 years- of age | wouid> have an opportunity of taking 'piart in dleciding the future iiovorori meat of the Dominion. Up till LSbS there was a property qualification.' In the year 1893 women's suffrage was granted, and now the only qualification wast the agie limit, and a residlentaali qualification. He trusted I that, the people would use their privilege, and it hat they would treat him in this part of the electorate as : they did three years ago. He thank- ! Ed them for their attentive hearing. I (Applause.)

A number of questions were asked and' answered to the satisfaction of tie interrogators. A hearty votfe of tlnanks was aocorded the memiber, land) the hope was expressed that he would' again be returned to Parliament by a hig majority.