POLITICAL ADDRESS.

Waikato Argus, Volume VII, Issue 515, 18 November 1899, Page 3

POLITICAL ADDRESS.

MR W. H. BERRIES AT MORRLNSVILLE. MkW. 11. HERRIES, candidate for the Biy of Plenty, addressed the e'.ei tors at Morrinsvill'', on Wednesday evening. There wee about (>0 present, including several ladiee, and Mr Turnbull occupied the chair. Mr Herries, on rising, was warmly received. The speaker commenced by thanking the audience for rullirg up in such large numl.eiv, and said he thought the attendance must be a record one for Motrinivill'\ It would be impossible he said in the short time at h:s disponil to cjve them a full account of his actions dutim.' the last three years, .-.nil they wo Id, therefore, have to pardon him if he was compelled to overlook many mattcus, upon which he would be unable to touch. The first thin* ho would have to refer to was the DEPARTURE OF TIIR TKANSVAAL CONTr.V----r; ent. He was proud to be. a member of the House of Representatives last sea i-.n, u's it was marked by a step which was unequalled in the whole .-minis of co onial history. He referred to the despatch of volunteers to the Transvaal to against the Boers. The colony had, he said, spontaneously of her own accord offered to send the best of her youths to the assistance of the Mother Country. He was sure the bi.st wishes of all the inhabitants of New Zealand went, with who had £One to fight the batch's

of the Mother Country on another shote (ippLnse), and he was sure both the men and horses were a credit to their island home. (Applause).

THE DOWNFALL OF SEDDON. In the House were always two pattic*, whatever they might be called ; but he wished to point to the present Opposition as the Government of the future after the next election. Three years aj:o Mr Seddon returned to power wi'h a majority of from 15 to 17 on paper, and on the very last wtint of confidence motiou l>roughs< forward, he had a majority of five only, so no further proof was needed that Mr Seddon's influence was steadily on the down grade. Frequently last session on small divisions the Opposition beat the Government by sometimes two or three votes, and mme years had elapsed *inoe the casting vote of the Speaker wa3 called into requisition so frequently as during the la*t session Of the last five bye elections that had been held, four had been won by the Opposition and one by the Government. The speaker iustanced the case of Mr John llutcheson who was elected as a Government supporter, but voted against it on a no-confidence motion Like an honest aud honourabe man he had resigned and placed himself in the hands of his constituents who had returned him by a majority of 2000, showing that in Wellington, the capital city of the colony, people will have nothing to do with the Uoverninent or its works. So that looking at Parliament and the trend of public feeling throughout the colony it must be 'admitted that Sedd >nism was on the wane, and there was every reason to believe that the Opposition would be returned. The feeling of the colony was strongly against the Government, and the Opposition was duly carrying out the policy i.f the people as endorsed at' more than one el ction. He was not opposed to the Lauds for Settlement, or Advances to Settlers Acts or the bursting up policy tf the Government, neither were the other members of the Opposition. They had no wi-sh to go buck to the old days; but they found fault with the adminstration tf these measures, anil the administration of the Government generally. The Government polity on paper would make the place a perfect paradise ; but the administration was bad r.nd corrupt, and .would do the greatest harm to any country—it was bad in the extreme.

SCANDALS. Mi- Herries Raid that tlie Opposition was charged With raking np old scandals, but it was the duty of the members to safeguard the interests of their constituents and it was only right that they should know how the money was spent. The speaker then referred at length to the case of Cornet Wiigy to whom the New Zealand Cross was granted by sheer force of barracking. He pointed out that Wrigg when advocating his own case before the Commission was actually allowed £52 for witnesses' expenses. Passing on to the marine scandal, the speaker pointed out the discrepancies in the statements and in the evidence given before the Commission by the Premier. Mr Hall-Jones had been flatty contradicted by Captains Allman and Allpoit, and jet these men all sat working together in the one office. They were not on cordial terms, but nevertheless were working together. There surely was something wrong. There was undoubted evidence of maladministration in every department from r.ot to branch. On the Supplementary Estimates just passed there was one item of £350 for the purchase of a book on initiation fiom Mr McKeague, who is contcs'ing the Ashburion seat in the interests of ihe Governrnen'. No doubt this sum would have come in very handy at election time aud, perhaps, might have enabled him to win the scat, but the Opposition soon knocked the item out of the Estimates. Of course Mr Seddon protested his innocence and said he was not aware that it was the same man, but if the Opposition had not done thh he would have got the money and probably got iuto the House. Mr Herries then dwelt for some time upon the Premier's expenses to England, and compared them with those of the other Australasian Premiers which ranged from £SOO to £IOOO, whereas Mr Seddon's amounted to £1750, exclusive of the sum of £146 for his private secretary, discovered later on. It must be remembered too that during the trip the Premier's expenses at the Hotel Cecil were paid by the Home Government, and he wai drawing £-250 a year from the Assets Eoard and they did not know how much from the AngloGerman Company. His small trip to Tasmania had cost the colony £5lB, ot which amount £3O bad gone for the purchase of possums. Similar trips by Sir Geo. Grey, Captain Russell and Sir 11. Atkinson hid cost ouly £OOO for the three or an average of £2 a day, as against £l3 a day for Mr Seddon. In 1896 Mr Seddon drew £574 in travelling expenses and allowances; in 1897 £583, and ia 1898, £l4l ; but in the latter year he was in England the greater part of the time and only put in three days travelling in the colony at the rate of £47 a day. Last year the amount totalled Übi'J. He did not object Lo Ihe Premier travelling round the country ; in fact, he considered it was the Premier's duly to do so, but he certainly objected to him going rcund as a political partisan and using Government moneys for the benefit of his party. If he wished to barrack for his party then his expenses should he paid by himself or by the Liberal League he represented. As an instance, he might tell them that Mr Seddon was going to honour him by visiting his electorate and intended speaking at Opotiki and Tauranga, in order to try and influence electors in favour of the Government candidate. These expenses could easily be made a mcai)3 of bribery unless a vigorous check was kept upon them. Then there was the Hon. John McKensre, who hud just landed from England, where he had gone to undergo an operation. Everyone would sympathise with him in his trouble, but it was hardly right that the country should have to pay £SOO for the trip, in addition to allowing him £BOO a* year, £2OO house allowance, aud £250 for his piivite secretary. They might have noticed in the papers recently that the private secretary was enjoying a wellearned holiday on the Continent. He foiled to see why the colony should have

to pay for that. It retmvned f"r them to say how long they would submit to this sort of thing. III'SHY PAKK. Mr Hi tries said i \v m not his intent!' n to enter into the question as to whether the Bushy Park Ksiats was propcly sold or n t; l.nt Mr MeKe-nziu s-aid lliata work'tig man >h old no'. he nilowe ! m to than 640 acres ■ t ti .«t-clm> land, ; n ■ yet his sou< were allowed 2000 a-r s of ti.e hest lun i in the colony. The winking man must have the, lease in perpetuity, but his sons cfiu.'il have ihe frceho'd. '! ho fan.o law, he contended, should apply to '.very man in the colony. lApplam>e). Tim Minio'c st ndily r f.i»ed the freehold to th". unff run ate Crow t te an>.«, but granted it. without the slightest compunction' to his own s-oi.°. Convrg to the land cj .J'.snoN', th; speaker said he was p-cpaivd to admit th.it this Gorcrnmcut »nl the Minister for Lands had done all ill their power to put peop e on lh" lind; but this land policy was nothing new. It was introduced iy M Ro.les-ton, who was the first man to introduce the perpetual lease, which was a loiia way ahead of ihu lcai-e in perpetuity He gave the Government every credit for bursting up th i big estates; and had no hesitation in saying that their policy in many instances w.is a mo.;t beneficial one ; but without doubt it w.is badly administered. Under the land for settlement policy, although 19,000 acres had bfcntpened up in the Auckland province, only 33,000 acres had bfen tkrown open in the whole of the North Ward, as against 200,000 in the South. Was this not an injustice ? About a million and tt-hslf acres of native lands were locked up, while in his electorate alone so nc 200,000 a;ioi in estates were locked up, only three estates in the Auckland province having been purchased. In locking up tend in this manner the Government was ten times worse than the old squatters and banks, and our young men could not obtain the land they required for settling down. Without doubt the Government had retarded settlement iu the North Island while fostering it in the South. He quite agreed with the Government in lhe : r delre to put people on the land ; but the mistake they made was iu cutting it up into such small nreas and putting unsuitable rren upon it. In many instances the .100 and 200 acre blocks were on lough hill sides like Te Aroha, and other sections carried heavy bush, aid could not ba ploughed for years. What was the use of fettling pc pie on 1-tnd like that ? There were no factoriis ne«r and there was nothing alidad but starvation unlcs3 they got Government work. To enable th>m to live the Government was compelled to commence co-operative works; but as the roads were made, the settlers must leave their holdings as it was impossible for th m to live on them. What was Hip use of settling land when the settlors had to be sp on fed in that, manner ? The whole policy was a failure. 'Jo prove his contention the speaker read the following extract from the financial statement: "In many parts of the colony we have settlers who have betn placed on the land for years; but who have uo roads leading to their homes, and the privations and difficulties they have to encounter are heartrending to endure. Having personally made myself acquainted with the true condition of affairs, I feel this standing reproach should lc removed, and eveiy expedition exercised in making roads next summer to the back-block settlements The settlers have a right to insist tha> the State shall keep good faith. 1 htir lands hive been loaded—in some cares to the extent of s'per annum per acre, and this has been paid for years—yet, owing to want of funds, no roads or reasonable access have been given, and iu the winter time these settlers are completely isolated from the outsde world. To enable good faith to be kept, and to mike these roads quickly and well, £150,000 is required." Mr Seel'Jon himself admitted that the settlers had been put on the land without proper roads. This was the preat boasted Lnd policy upon which the Government were seeking the suffrages of the people at the next election. Even the Opposition could not have put Hie case stronger. The Government had not kept faith with the people and hud to admit it. (Applause).

LAND FOR SETTLEMENT TOLICY. As showing the good the Opposit'on does, the speaker called attention to a Bi 1 introduced last session by the Government to amend the " L»nd for Settlement Act." He quite agreed with their action in bursting up the big estates and he wished they would proceed further" in this respict, but in introJin•ng this Bill the Government expressed a with to burst up the small ones ulso. It was introduced os:enbibly for the purpose of providing workmen's homes within a radius of five mile* of a city, borough, or town district. It enabled the Government to take any man's land at the fair actual market value and leave him only five acres. This to the Opposition seemed an outrageous thing, and they altered it so that it only applies to any borough having a population of not less than 15,000 inhabitants, and therefore iipp'led only to the four piincipal cities in the colony. The radius was extended to tifttcn miles snd the Government was compelled to allow a man to retain 50 aces of land and lo compensate him for the bu-.iners value of the land taken. From a political standpoint it would have been better for the Opposition if t' ey had not interbred iu the matter as there would have been a revolution amongst the country settlers and the Government would have beeu turned out of office inside of a month. T n this and in many other instances the Government endeavoured to claim the credit for the amendments that had been made by the Opposition.

FUTURE POLICY O* THE OOTERNHKKT la the future policy laid down by the Government he could rot see that t hoy had promised very much. A* usual, they referred electors to what they had done aire dy and said they must be trusted for the future. Everything t!--at the Government promised was embodied in aseiins of resolutions pissed by the Liberal and Labour League aud endorsed by the Premier. He might chrni that he was as great aLiber.il as the Premier us he was in favour of the whole of the resolutions. No. 1 resolution, referring to land settlement, he cordially endorsed, but he did not think that the Government had earned out their promi-es to see that equal justice was done to the native race. He cnttiuled that thty had dealt most unjustly with the natives. By c'ause 117 of the 1802 Act the Government had reserved the right of purchase. There was only one purchaser and only one pi ice and in a host of instances the Maoris had 1 een forced to take pi ices considerably less than the land was worth and the natives were practically robbed. For the Taraaki Block near Wellington 7s 6d and 10s> per acre had been paid for land subsequently sold for £7 10s and £lO per acre. As to the Land and Inc me Tax, he w s quite sure none of the Opposition wi lied to go back to the Property Tax. It was a very good measure, an 1 personally he paid less under it than he did previously. He was quite in accord with the industrial and mining laws, aud cordially agreed with that relating to dairying. In this connection he would like to ask if the Government had ever done anything to foster this industry beyond appointing a number of inspectors. The dairying industry was carried out by the settlers themselves, and the Go eminent had done noth'ng beyond taxing the te'tier. Ihe frrzen meat industry, he contended, bad been brought to u successful issue by tho c interested, the large companies, and the bunks. The Government claimed that all the progress Ibf country had made was due to them, whereas it was entirely due to tho energy aud determination of tlje eettlers

e> gaged in these pursuit.". (Applause). As to the other c'au.-c. lie would endorse the whole of them, and as h; was prepared to go the whole hog and Uilopt • he Liberal platform, he c aimed t • be an gre."t a L'bera' av any of them. Ncverthu'ess, he tl oug' t their platform very and mi.-n"•••"tiinii»il. Thin; was nut'di.g definite in it. 'Jltf, OITIWiTION I'll■ CIIAMMK. Ti e timi h.i'i only a few pianist in ih.dis, lut they had soii.i thing rich' ite to put l-r----waul Jii the (ii>t. pbuu tmi- u.r.d policy ivii: sum I ; tiny w i.-he I in gi e eve yoni a chai.ee to ge.' a freehold. t had' I.ecu si d that th ;> wished to a 1 o'tilth- liaseh'i'd sy-ten and I re th.' lie Ii Id do-vn ov< ryo:ie'n tlnoats. The leasrho d ,-y.iiem, he tlnmudi , w.i.< n capital one for small settlor•, but he thought it only right that they .sh: u'd at any ii:ne they like I pnreh'se the la d a.s fretdifld. (-vppl.i'ise). U.-believe I it a man had pui iu 2b' o 30 yea a on lanl it should be given to bin. free-('pp mi e) in many cases he licit.y decrvo ; it. In many cses pc .pie hvl paid enou r !i in rent to buy th-i land twee o\er. ' hi* would do more to : dvanea the colony thai to forcd them to con inue p yjr.E rent with no earthly p'tsp it of getting shut of it. He advocate I -omc sys tin similar to the advances to svMlcro, so th.it a man might |ay off tie rent ii:m! bink'i'g fu d in instalment.-, and at the end of 26 years it would become his on n liopity. Kadi year tome reform iu this ilitcc ion was promised in thuGc ortier's sp ech, lut sessio-. a'ter sccsioii closed and there was no sign of ii. The Opposition proooacd to reform it. n'tcgether They aUo win'id au e'.it-e Upper Ilou-it on the tain • basis an the lion oof Rop.e en'atives. (Hear, Le * i). They would have the members of he Legislative Council elected on the sen" pr'uic'ple as the Senati for the Common wealth of Australia on the sys'en. of large e'ectorat 8 or provincial districts. Under the prciOot system, when a member had be n seven years in the Council and wanted to go back, he knew perfectly well that the appointment res'ed with the Premier alone, a'-.d it was to his interest to support him. This was entirely wrcng. A man should be re-po:.-sible to the. people di:eci and nit to the Fiemier, wdio was not in accord wi'h the wUhes of the people, as at the next ilection he would be turned on'. [A voice : Qics'ion?] It was a moot question, but he believed it. Another leforin the Oppisition had in view was that of the Civil Service. This must come about sooner or'later, any ho* ; the pruning knife would have to be applied. The Oppo ition wanted to dc-trt.y excrescences such as temporary clerks. There were large numhir of these in Wellington, who had been temporary clerks for the hut 30 jeats, an.l the Depaitnntal expenses were steadily increasing, The Valuation Department—an f-ntirely tu w departure—which cost the country £25,000 a ye.r, was an iostanc'. Thy iuiemlcd to revolutionise the Depiitments, and if there were not a sufficient number o' cleiks to app iiut more; hut to remove these temporaly clerk", Wh n the estimates were being considere 1 they found that four men were employed doing nothing elese rnt clipping elcctionreiing extracis from invspipcrs fir Miirstcs. Th»y had been put into billets and something be found for them to do. Thi- was ju t one instance amongst a ho;4 of others. There must be some classification, as iu the Ra'lwuy Department, where every one went iu a:s a cadet and bad a chain e to : ise from ihe bottom to the top of the tree. Many young people, both boys and girls, go in lor the Civil service examination l , but owing to the fact that tnrp.niry cleiks were employed for polite'l nasoti , they did not adiai.ee in the \v-iy they should do. (Applause).

FEDERATION*. It was almost impossible to venture an opinion on this question until the c.dony had considered it, as it was ono about which n.o-t pei pie were ignorant and with which he was not very well acquainted himself He considered the Government had neglected their duty in not sending a representative over to the Ctnfercncp. By this they had lost an opportunity of getting clau es inserted in the Federal Bill which would have been favourable to New Zealand, and through which the colony would have obtained many advantages, which would now be 'osf. He believed in federation, and believed it would have to come sooner or later. If the Opposition were retun.od they iuteiuled to get all po - si hie iufoimation regarding the financial aspect of the question ; to see haw much it would relieve the colony of ; how much they would take for the Federal Parliament; how much produce waslikely to go over to Australia and all informati n as to duties, They generally b(lievid as farmers, that it would bo an advantage to have open markets, as New Zealand pioduce would compare favourably with anything iu the world, Undir federation it would cost less to govern the oniony ; but they wanted to knowhow much the colon? wa« going to lose and how the money was poing to be found. It could not be raised by indirect taxatiou, as all this went to thv Federal Government, and it was just a question whether the advantages were tquul to tlia disadvantages. It had been cilculatcd that it would result in a lo:s tf half a million a year, and this would have to be made up by direct taxation The Government would have to pass the Act within a year or so, and if the colony did not go in ht-fore that time had expired, it would be impossible to join uuder the same terms. The Opposition intended to collect all information possible and then ask the people to decide the matter. (Applause).

RAILWAYS, They were also prepared to finish the Main Trunk Railway. It was ridiculous to proceed at the rate the Government were doing about a mile a year. The Opposition looked upon it as a colonial work and wanted it passed right through. They poposcd to borrow money to have the line completed at the earliest possible moment—or say inside three years. The speaker complained of the way in which Government works were commenced'all over ihe colony and then allowed to drop for some year?, when the job had to be done all over 3gain and the first money spent was simply thrown away. Over the ranges and in Rotorua there were many instances of this,

I’KNNY POSTAGF. The Opposition had determined to h .vc the penny postage. It seemed idioulous that the cct should he practically the same for a . letter to go a few miles as from the colony to England, No doubt they would lose money tiy it during the first year or two, hut he felt certain the increase in the correspondence would soon make up the deficiency. NATIVE LANDS. They also proposed to settle the native lard question by putting the natives on tlie same footing as the pakeha. He thought there should he reserves set aside so that the natives cou'd never 1 ecome entirely landless, but they should he allowed to deal with their own lands in any manner they liked. If this hail been done years ago the King Country would have been settled long before this. The present native policy of the Government was retarding settlement greatly, and if the Maoris were allowed to si 11 or lease their own lands they should thou he compelled to pay rates like Europeans These were a few planks in the Opposition platform, which tvcrc surely lihrr.il enough for anyone, hut ns he had pointed out before, most of the sp called Conservatives were far more liberal than the leaders of the so-called Liberal party, and as fully advanced and progressive. There was no b ar of the Opposition passing any reactionary mcaeutes. The Opposition

was composed mostly of small farmers and it was only natur.il that they should look to the interests of this class. It was all nousense to say that the Opposition wished to reduce the rate of wages ; he contended that while wages were high the price for produce would be good. (Applause). HIS OPPONENT. Mr Herries Baid he wished to refer to a few remarks made by his opponent, Mr Lundon, who he might say was a most honourable, straightforward man. When referring to the Sugar Beet Bill, Mr Lundon had quoted Mr Scddon to show that Mr Lang and he had done all they could against the Bill. This was a pure fabrication. If anyone would look up Hansard they would see that what he said was correct. This statement of the Premier's was made in answer to a question of his. He w : shed to advance the Sugar Beet Bill, and asked the Premier wheu he was going to introduce it. It was the rule of the House that if a member asked a question he could not speak again. The Premier knowing this, and knowing that he could not defend himself, had replied that Mr Laug and himself had done all they could against the Bill. Mr Lang was much more intimately connected with the matter than he was, and at one time had obtained the signatures of a majority of the members of the House and had forced the Premier to bring in the Sugar Beet Bill. Unfortunately it was dropped shortly afterwards, but it ehowed the interest Mr Lang took in the matter. It was a well-known fact that the Premier did not want the Bill to pass, but if ever such a Bill was introduced it would have no more ardent supporter than himself, (Applause). OLD AGK PENSIONS. In referring to the Old Age Pensions, Mr Herries said he had opposed the Bill—not in principle-in the form it was introduced. He said it was the duty of the Government to provide for the aged and infirm, but thought the pension should be universal, so that everyone could claim it on reaching a certain age. It would not then be a dole. The financial difficulty could be got over by a contributory scheme for the young, but the scheme would not affect those who were old now. It had been suggested to increase the fees for the registration of births and marriages, and to put aside this amount at compound interest, and this should be supplemented by the State and handed over at the age of 65 The Opposition opposed the Bill because they believed it to be impracticable. Ac the present time it was being paid out of borrowed money, and this could not last for ever. They did not know where the money was coming from ; but now it was started they would never do away with it. Those who had got the pension were entitled to it, and he only wished he could say it was more like a pension, aDd Dot, as in many cases merely a charitable aid dole. He objected to the Maoris getting it and thought they should be provided for in some other way. CONCLUSION. In conclusion, Mr Herries said he hoped and trusted that his constituents would give the same generous support that they bad always accorded him. It had been a great pleasure to him to represent the Bay of Plenty district—more especially this side of it, but he had done his best to represent the district as a whole, and before each session he had travelled through itinordertoascertainthe requirements of the district. It was tho biggest electorate in the colony, there were many conflicting interests, and it was, of course impossiple to please everybody. Although he had not got all the grants he had asked tor, he had nevertheless obtained more money for his electorate than was received by any other district in the colony. This session he had secured £36,000, the year before that £44,000, and the previous year £42,000. He thanked the audience tor their hearing, and trusted that if they approved of his actions in the House, they would again return him as their representative. Mr Herries resumed his seat amidst continued applause. In reply to questions, Mr Herries said that the refusal to grant the Old Age Pensions to foreigners who had served through the war, but who were not naturalised was one anomalies of the Bill which the Opposition would rectify. Mr Seddon had introduced a Bill dealing with the matter, but so many amendments were brought forward that he dropped it. He was not in favour of altering the present system of education with regard to Bible-reading in schools. £ As to prohibition, he was in favour of The thrse-fifths, not the bare mijority. He was not astrict teetotaller, but at the same time if prohibition were carried he would respect the law and endeavour to have it enforced. (Applause). He had taken an active part in drawing up the Mining Bill, which prevented companies taking up large blocks of alluvial land.

He had endeavoured to get a recreation ground for Morrinßville, but hi« efforts had been ineffectual. There was no law by which it could be done, but if the Opposition were returned they would try to make a law. (Laughter and applause). In the trip up the Wauganui river made by Captain Russell, Christie Murray and others, the total amount spent was £416. The speaker read the various items of expenditure, which included £l2O for canoes. It was practically an exploration expedition to open up the country, and it certainly had had that effect, The trip lasted three weeks and one day. This expenditure of £416 might have been one of the things which had thrown out the former Government.

Mr Pickup here quoted figures to show that the expedition consisted of four people, that it lasted four days, aud the expenditure amounted to £419. Mr Herries: Arc you reading an extract from a speech.? Mr Pickup : Yes, I'm reading from Mr Lundon's speech at Cambridge as repot ted in the Waikato Times. Mr Gerries : Well I quoted from parliamentary paper?. That just Bhows how these absurd things get about. (Laughter and applause). MrSnell moved a vote of thanks to Mr Herries fcr his address. This, however, failed to find a seconder. Mr F. J. Marshall proposed and Mr A. Orr seconded that the vote be one of thanks and confidence. This was carried with enthusiasm, there being only one dissentient voice. Mr Herries briefly replied, and expressed a hope that the question of confidence would be settled at the ballot box. A call of "Three cheers for Dick Seddon !" was received in frigid silence, and the meeting closed with the customary compliment to the chairman. MR LANG AT RAGLAN. Mr LaDg met the electors in Rag'au on Monday evening. Mr R. C. Mathias occupied the chair. The speech was very much on the lines of those already reported in The Anacs. Mr Lung met with the cordial reception which he always commands tt Raglan. As to the voles he had recorded he had used his judgment and voted in what he thought the best interests of the colony. When members are returned to support a government they have no optirn, but to become tools in the hands of the Premier. Mr Seddon once said to a member, " The seat is not yours, it is mine ; 1 placed you there." He would not be returned to follow any man. He said the reason the Government did not deserve the support of the people of New Zealand was because of their corrupt adi'nir.htraiion. It was not a case of Liberal or Conservative, but of good lion Hi administration, ' After Jh Lang had concluded his adtfn.", Tbk Argcs' Own Correspondent, v th he permission of the Chairman, re-

ferred to Di. Hoskinft'a denial in his speech at Hamilton, of the truth of the report sent by him (Own of the speech delivered by the Doctor at Roghn. He said he had been living amongst those present for twenty-five year?, and been Own Correspondent for the Raglan district for nearly two decades, and this was the first time lv's reports had be*-n disputed. He read the portiou of his report quoted in The Argus leading article of 2Sth October, and which Or. Hoskiug said was inaccurate. He asked that the question should be put to all present who had been at Dr. Hosking's meeting as to whether the report was accurate. The question was put to the meeting and the report unanimously declared truthful. Our correspondent then expressed his thanks and gratitude to his fellow-settlers for bearing evidence to the truth of his report. Questions were then invited. Mr Henry asked : Is it not a fact that the Old Age Pensions are paid out of the consolidated revenue, to which all contribute ? Therefore, how can you make out tha 1 ; the whole cost falls on the country sett'ers ? Mr Ling replied that the greatest part of the surplus every year was devoted to public works, and anything that reduced it took away from the amounts available for roads and bridges. Mr Conradi asked : Is it not a fact that the whole burden of the old age pensions falls upon the settlers, inasmuch as the money is taken from the surplus and if other provision were made for carrying out the scheme the money would be spent on roads and bridges ? Mr Lang replied in the affirmative. Mr Conradi asked if a scheme which would fall equally on all were introduced and the pensions made universal, would Mr LaDg support it? M. Lang : Most decidedly. Mr S. VVilson then proposed a hearty vote of thanks and confidence in Mr Lang. This was seconded by Mr L. Johnstone and carried unanimously. MR HERRIFS AT PUTARURU. Mr Herries addressed an attentive and nio3t enthusiastic meeting here on Wednesday night. Mr Grey was elected to the chair. There wan a good sprinkling of settlers from the surrounding districts. Mr Herries was in touch with the audience throughout, and at the conclusion of his address was accorded a vote of thaDks e.nd oanfidence.