POLITICAL CAMPAIGN

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10495, 5 December 1911, Page 5

POLITICAL CAMPAIGN

MR A. W. HOGG AT EKETAHUNA

A VOTE OF CONFIDENCE,

iMir A. W. Hogg, addressed a meeting of about five nuntired electors in the Eketahuna Public Hall last evening. The eliair< was occupied by His Worship tlbie Mayor (Mr E. Page). The candidate was given a cordiiial reception, though there were a number of interjections. Mr Hogg, in his opening remarks, tflnaaiked 'has audiience for their cordial reception, and referred to the handicap lie had suffered through tillnese. He had been told' , tba« Eketahuna was gick of Ward, and !v:id gone over to tue big squatter; but it had! always been his .Liberal stronghold, and Jie knew thie people would not change. No election since 1890 had been fought more bitterly than the present, and the reason was obvious; He had always opposed monopoly, and the Conservative party would gnv» not merely thear. u.nde.r-(gairmfinta' but. the skins of their backs if tOiey couild get Hogg i/Ut-. Ilhey were holding "siheevoos" and dinners, and suggesting his elevation to the- Upper House; out foe could assure tlwjm there was no more prospect of his going to the Legislative Council than there was of Mr Massey's appointment as Premw. (daughter.)

CHEAP MONEY.. t . Of one thing he mas'particulairly proud,, and that was the part. he played in the initiating of the cheap money scheme. Up to 1894 the ■ settlers were in the . hands of bankers and money-tenders; The biaaiks got the<u\ mpjiey at 4 per cent." and. lent it out at opea 1 cent, and 10 pier cent., and the farmer, who could no more do without money tharn he could without arms arid legs, was continually in danger , of foreclosure. In 1892 the passing of thie Mackenzie Act opened the Du®h to the working dass-es, wiho formed associations, sellected blocks;, and occupied thieur sections. By the time. the bush was felled and the land cleared and gi*a&sed' 3 thedr anoaiey was exhausted. And then, to their dismay they. founfl-ffii&y bankers and loan agents .scud 'toe security of a ,ieas^/yewett' > 999 years, not: iaiud the. GV>veirninent said their Departments could not l'end except on the freeHte got up a confiereaoe of members, explained the position, and led a deputation. before Ministers. The deputation consisted! of Messrs Houston, Hall-Jones, U. ,H. M)ill», Lawry, M. Simth, * Mackintosh, and binv self.,- Tffiey interviewed Mr - (ln-emier), Hon . J ohn c McKenzie (Minister of Lands), and .the Colonial .vTrfeacuxer (Sir Joseph. W/ard). The Minister of' Lands thought tSiO sappifcatioh for assistance was premature. The Oolomal Treasurer said itlhe Insurance Department couM lend only on-, safe lines; but the Pi-eSder held out a hope that the settlers would be assisted. Air Hlogg ' .said he brought the matter up iir tihe lELWsej and ia- portion, of. the : Plresis, particularly the Paibi&tua Herald, commended hi& scheme,. declaring iu wtould be tie salivation of'the^settlers. The Wellington. Even&ngP<6st, 'however,- denounced the proposal •most vigorously. 1 Mir; Seddon, however, despatched : Sir Joseph Ward ito. linden, where die floated a loan on advantageous terms that placed thie Advances to betters scheme on a sound 'andpeinmiient footing. He quoted figures to " ihow the huge amount of /business that bad been transacted through/ the Advances Office, and pointed out that last year idle net profits amounted to £41,839. iMr Mass ey ~ had protested against tihe "State pawnshop/' but 1 he (Mr Hbgg) questioned- if anything achieved in a young country ]jad eVer done more to heJjp. its pikmeers and increase itis growth and prosperity, iFfod «■ Government been in porwer; the. Farmers' ! XJniion would probacy Waive been seized with the shi-/ Vers,, andr the' terror-stricken Pre-" mier would; Have declared that Hogg was going to ruin the country. But Mr Seddon had a .backbone, and was jifot going to ibe mtimadbted by a Idnd-gr'abbing, fraternity, and" - their, servile: newspaper®. f jie lending office was opened, with the result that old wharei and lean-to's disappeared, arid! fine new residences took their place.' .'ih© farmer from being. an obsequious dependent on mortgagees, could g£t advances' on his imjproveanente on reasonable terms .as .a statutory right.. The price of money went down 2£ per/cent., and a million or two that annually went to the private money-lenders Was' Saved for thie cultivators. of the vSoiH.', They could how -see why he met \\jitih such a deftemim'ed ' opposition, and why . he ■was labelled "dangerous.' banking institutions.

As they were aware, thie country had propped <up the Bank of New Zealand), and Shad a large interest in iits business, although it did not get a proportion of the profits. ' Last year the shareholders received a dividend of 12 per cent., and a bonus of 3 per cent., and £200,000, to 4 per cent., was added t'o the re- ! Serve fund, bringjuig it up to £l,000.000. Its note issue was about !£1,000,000, its deposits £18,000,000, and of tfliS-s £9,000,000 was invested dji London. The five banks doing (business 1 in New Zealand had a paidup capital of £8,u00,000. Their reserves amounted 1 to £6,000,000, and their dividends came to over £1,000,000. " Durfing the last eigheen years, 'owing to the reserves, the price of '.shores in these banks' had mounted up 1 enormously. The- unsatisfactory feature about our private banking business was that nearly all the ,shareholders live<L_out of New Zealaaid, and- the dividends' paid them were a diram on the workers. Ait the same time, the depositors' money, instead of being lent out to help our individual enterprises, was

usually invested abroad. Bja had-no fault to. find with, tbe managemeiit of the banks), and he considered ; if a State bank was- established the*•, the officers who were admitted!, competent should not be allowed! to suffer. •'

THE LAND QUESTION. > Now, with regard to the land question, the people had never been satisfied*. The land imnger lhad fluctuated, but it had never disappeared, Unfortunately, ninny oi the liiungty ones were actuates by greed, their do-sire being to make money, not homes. He had "been instrumental in getting the law amended bo that the Land Boards can weed out undesirable applicants. Speculators monopolist® stood .jsn the way of genuine settlement. Although not legally a criminal, the land monopolist was morally-an evm-dcer.Mir Balance's method of ours/ting. up estates had never ocen properly adopted. Ihe Graduated 'lax, instead of being scientificallly applied, had been,evaded, pigeonholed allowed to {grow mouldy, and treated with con* . tempt. : , Fortius the Liberal leadeina were undoubtedly to blame. :lihey either lacked courage or inclination. In 1896! there wer« over lo,ooojooo _ acres in holding&of over 50,000 aores. Last year .these large holdings represented 8,343,000 acres, and this notwithstanding the fact that estates had been divided!' amongst "relatives, and. 1,126,000 acres were acquired under the Land for Settlement Act at a coßt of £6,000,000. These figures proved that the graduated tax lias not been a success. Our land liaws have not been' . administered, otherwise there would" • have been 'less aggregation; * If th» Mokau scandal was bad, the management of the' King Country,; was worse. Instead of the lands ■ being tm-own open for settlement; «o tihiai the landless woulld Juaye am opportunity of getting some, of thoA fine country, it'nad been prtivat-ely leased to speculators, who. had.' no ' intention of, residing on their blocks or improving them. Contrary tto the National Endowment . ' was> becoming very produotdve: Last year's rentals amounted ito £72,223. The necessity of' jeafeusly guarding those endowments wa& made>cLear, by,. - the taken to the/Old; Age - pensions'. ■ / , _ '/|-V ' r - .

OLD AGE, PENSIONS.; ' 1 " • He read an?'article from the Wairi- ' V *apa Daily Times- of-FebrUary * 23)fd last, ( ..in which the pensions. -were : denounced, and the hope was expressed that they would l not be continued. In justification of the small allowances to old resident®, he qubted a number of pensions ranging -from £2lO to £666. Recently granted=- under the CSvil Service Act to officer*' wh/o had be«n fat sailarie» • all their laves. "

. i ■ DEEEiNGB. ji- Referring to the defence scheme, Mr Hogg, read- a list of payments to the staff and contended that the cost was' more than .New Zealand* oould bear. T ' - v

COLLUSION. In conclusion, he said the Govern-- " ment was too. weak to be useifiul ; but the present Opposition identified • •' capitalistic, .class,; whose political creed spelt ■ "stagniatfion." " The hop© of the country-depended ota the rise of a new and energetic lib- , eital aiid Labour party; '' ■■ V|i ' ' '' "• • v -•'.' .

QUESTIONS. , , Hogg answered a; number of questions to- the apparent fiatdfifaction of the questioners. THANKS AND CONFIDENCE. ' Mr J. P. ! Lomiax moved, and Mr J; Dawson seconded, "That Mr Hfogg be thanked for his address', and that this meeting desires to express its, ' contiauied .confidence iai ihEm,. and hopes that he will , long be spared to represent the district in r Parliament." Mr A. W; Boyn moved as an amendment, and Mr JF. 0. SucMioig seconded, "That Mr,, Hogg be accorded a vote of thanks.'-' ' ' A show of hands was taken, and the chairman declared the motion cair- . ied, amidEt loud appliause. - ? ; Cheers were gLvens for Mr Hogg,, and a portion of the anidiience sang, "For He'® a JoMy Gfeod Fellow." Another section of the audiienc® giave cheers fbr Mr Mascey. and Mjp Herbert. '■