MR. W. C. BUCHANNA'S SPEECH AT CARTERTON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 938, 30 November 1881, Page 2 (Supplement)

MR. W. C. BUCHANNA'S SPEECH AT CARTERTON.

About 200 electors responded to Mr Buchanan's invitation to meet him at the Public Hall, Carterton, last evening, in order to hear his political views, Mr Fairbrother was voted to the chair, and, after describing the reason the meeting was called, introduced Mr Buchanan, • Mr Buchanan said that upon the last occasion on which he had been present at a public meeting in that Hall, the late members were addressing their constituents, and Mr Bunny had told them that the district would be divided, that Mr Beetham would represent the upper portion of it, and he (Mr Bunny), as a matter of course, would be the member for the lower district, The speaker thought, however, Mr Bunny should have waited till ho saw whether other candidates intended to come forward, and till he ascertained the views of the electors on the matter, who only had the power to decide whether Mr Bunny or any other candidate should represent them for the future. (Hear! Hear!) Mr Bunny had been a member for many years, but he (Mr Buchanan) had yet to loam that that gave Mr Bunny a prescriptive right to the seat, (Hear I Hear I) It had been said by Mr Boys that, as he (Mr Buchanan)jwas a resident in the northern portion of the district, it was not fair he should stand for the south, But Mr Boys had claimed that he stood as a Wairarapa man, and he (Mr Buchanan) certainly stood on the same ground, as he claimed tho right also to be a plain Wairarapa man, (Hear), and a New Zealand colonist, (Hear), and an elector in any portion of New Zealand could stand for a seat in its Parliament. Mr Boys had often urged him-to qualify himself as a rate' payer in the Carterton district that he might be eligible to become a member of the County Council, and having thus urged him for local representation, he thought it would be clear that Mr Boys' objection against him I try honors must fall to He was not answerable ■anient having placed Hindary between his B place which was the |e welfare of the whole le could be. To cornIs he would say a few »1 to the Ires of this measure he Bought the population land that the towns had [with the country disIg them twenty-five per 3 the difference in the of each, The measure e objectionable features, come an accomplished mssed the House by a enty-four. He did not stonewalling action on this Bill, as in turning up the electoral roll for Nelson suburbs he found 364 inhabitants returning one member, while 1728 in Christchurch only returned three, and there had existed similar inequalities in other parts of the colony. He felt sure that, though there might be a difference of opinion in matters of detail, yet all would agree that the system of representation was now in a much better state than before the present measure was passed, He regarded the LOCAL GOVERNMENT question as the question of questions for the wholo of New Zealand. Most of them had left the old country and had come out there to found homes under a better state of things, but if they neglected the of local self government their interests would suffer and progress be impossible. In towns with some it might be said that it was purely ut country matter, but he held that whatever affected the country also influenced the prosperity of the towns, The question of local government had been before Parliament for the past two sessions, but party politics had prevented anything coming of it, Mr Ormond made it the basis of a noconfidence motion againßt the Hall Ministry and a Bill they had brought in was shelved for the session. The new Parliament, however, must face the question amongst the first measures brought before it, and if the people did not desire to see themselves neglected in this matter they should be careful and return to the House men who were acquainted with the requirements of their districts and practically

acquainted with; the settlement of land, There was evidence all over New Zealand of i the neglect of local government, and places in this district settled upon for the past 20 years were in almost the same state now as they were when first occupied. He alluded to Alfredton foe instance, and also Rangitumau as showing that the Provincial Government sold land without the least regard to opening it up by means of roads. He had become aware of many instances of this character from his position on the Highway Board, as almost every meeting petitions came up to have roads laid off and he pointed out the difficulty of making roads to back country when no provision had been made for them. He alluded briefly to the Roads Construction, Crown and Native Lands, Eating, and Local Public Works Bills, brought forward by the Hall Government. The latter provided a very offective and simple plan for Counties and Boad Boards to raise money for local public works. Had the fund proposed by this measure been provided it would have been found to be of very great use and benefit to the country districts of New Zealand, it proposed,to establish a board consisting of the Minister for Public Works'and three members to be appointed by Parliament, This board was to receive a grant of .£150,000 out of loan and £150,000 out of the land fund, which was to be applied to assisting country residents in constructing roads, bridges, and other public works, The board was also to receive a free grant of £IOO,OOO and a similar amount at five per cent, from the trust funds making £200,000, the money thus raised to be lent to road boards for special works on their undertaking to strike a special rate that would produce nine per cent. on the money borrowed. This nine per cont. would be applied for interest and sinking fund, so that the amount borrowed would be liquidated in thirteen and a-half years. The rating of Crown and Native lands would also have lessened the burden of taxation, and settlers who had been 20 years without roads would have been onabled to obtain them. (Applause.) Ho would add, while on this subject, that last year's land revenue amounted to £299,000, but the estimate for the coming year was £333,000, and the cost of survey, 4c, £188,000; this would leave about the amount required from land under the Local Public Works Bill. Sir George Grey and Mr Orraond had each schemes of their own for local self-government, but neither of them had ever faced the question as fairly as the Hall Government had done. Grey had introduced his famous " Blank Bill," Ormond had touched upon the matter at his speech at Waipawa the other day, and Macandrew had his scheme for dividing the colony, With regard to the latter he thought every elector would thoroughly disagree, as he had, with such a scheme, Instead of creating fresh • centres, decentralisation and local self-govern-ment should be carried out to the greatest possible extent. The feature that would commend the Local SelfGovernment Bill to all was that which gave local bodies power to obtain money cheaply and easily for any necessary public work, with ample time to repay. Had County Bast been enabled to take advantage of a measure of this kind there would have been no need for debentures, and the money could have been had two per cent, cheaper. The LAND QUESTION followed local self-government naturally. An attempt had been made last session to abolish the law of entail, and the same question had been agitating people in England, for to this law was to be attributed much of the trouble arising out of land, and it was certain the troubles in Ireland were in many instances the result of this law. Even in New Zealand, at Canterbury, there was one very large property so tied up that nothing could be done with it. The Hall Government deserved thanks for introducing this matter, and endeavoring to nip such a system in the bud, as he thought they all agreed with him that the law of entail should be abolished, (Hear, hear.) DISTRESS FOR RENT. There was a wide difference of opinion on tliis matter, but he failed to see why a landlord should have a

("WAIRAEAPA DAILY," NOVEMBER 17th, 1881.)

greater privilege-than any other person in the matter of debt, nor why he should not go through the same form for recovering the amounts due to him as any other creditor, In some cases great hardship had been inflicted by this power of distress. He would point out that both this and the preceding Bill had been introduced in th fl Legislative Council, and this should be borne in mind when considering whether the Upper House should be abolished or altered in its constitution, NATIVE LANDS. They had no doubt seen reports at various times of the purchase of native land by the Grey Government, who had bought utterly worthless land, and wasted, it was said, thousands in bribery and corruption. The Hall Government had put a stop to this, but it was thought that if the Government went out of the market speculators only would become the purchasers. He did not see, however, why the Government should not purchase lands and then cut them up and dispose of them in suitable blocks for settlement. Some Natives might decline to sell to sell to Government, and, in that case, private persons should be allowed to obtain it, so that it would become subject to taxation, and help to bear the burden all had to carry, Government sold land last year for settlement to tho amount of £299,000, and this fact was a good answer to those who stated the Government did not desire to settle the people on the land. Great complaints, however, had been made as to the high upset price of the land, some of it in the Forty-mile Bush being £2 per acre. The Government were not so much to blame as the Waste Lands Boards, which were instructed to place the lands in the market at the lowest cost. He did not think they carried out their duties as they should, and it was time these Boards were re-or-ganised. No more should be charged for land than would be sufficient to make it fit for settlement, and the terms should be of a very easy nature. Roads should always precede or accompany settlement, as it was impossible for settlers to prosper without means of access to their markets. Looking back at past administrations, however no Government could be found who had evinced such a sincere desire to settle people on the land as the present one, and thanks were due to the Hon Mr Rolleston for the part he had taken in the work. He alluded favorably to the Crown Lands Guide issued from that Minister's department as supplying much valuable information to intending settlers. He thought the new Parliament should appoint a MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE. Most countries would not consider a Ministry complete without a Minister for this branch, and he would be in favour of such an appointment, which he thought would be found to be a very useful and important one, He would now allude to the RABBITS, (Loud applause.) No question in this district had been discussed more than this one. As far as he was concerned, he had been able to keep the pest down, and owing to keeping at the work at all times it was costing him very little. He had only taken up the matter on public grounds, as all were suffering from it, and some very severely. He described the working of the first Rabbit Act, and stated the reason the present one, giving the Government power to deal with the question, had been passed was because of the great objection and reluctance of trustees to initiate proceedings against their neighbours under it.' The Government had been very reluctant to take it over, but the evil had to be dealt with. It had been stated that the inspectors had all sorts of arbitrary powers, but this was not correct, as the inspector only had power to enter upon land, and, if he saw that steps were not being taken to prevent injury being done to neighboring landsthrough the spread of the pest, he laid an information and the matter was tried upon its merits. If the inspector infringed the Act, or behaved arbitrarily, he would be removed, One strong reason for the Government taking overthe Act was the difficulty of dealing otherwise with Native and Crown lands. He quite agreed with the Government's action in the matter. He thought the Rabbit Act was one exception that should be made in any scheme of loea

self-government, Ho would next allude I to the FENCING ACT. Mr Boys, at Greytown, alluded to the Fencing and Rabbit Acts as likely to ruin the colony, He (Mr Buchanan) failed to see it. The counties had power to refuse to bring the Fencing Act into operation, Under the old Act, if a river half a chain wide were between properties it was regarded as a legal fence, and, though only two inches of water were in it, they could not compel their neighbor to erect any other fence. The new Act remedied that. In the new Act if a road were the boundary, the opposite neighbor was bound to bear his proportion of the cost-of fencing, He considered the new Act a decided improvement on the old, and that it would be found to answer the requirements of all as much as any measure of the kind could do so. With regard to the RAILWAY. He had seen that a lot of discussion had taken place at Masterton recently on this subject, but the less they said about the cost of freight, 4c, at present the better, as the line only paid 16s per cent, while in Canterbury they yielded 5 per cent. The loss incurred in working lines in the North could be made up by taxation under the law, which would not he desirable. They had 880 miles opened in the South and about 400 in the North Island, and it had been complained that the North had not obtained its fair share. He showed, however, that the North had had £790,000 more than its share on a revenue basis, and the south 1| millions less than its due, so that we could not complain in this matter. (Applause,) With regard to BORROWING FOR RAILWAYS he would only be in favor of it to a certain extent and then not before a schedule of proposed works had been laid before the House and agreed to. IMMIGRATION. It had been said the Colony was losing its population, but we had actually gained 7,000 during 1880. Of those 4,500 had arrived voluntarily, and we were still gaining, This, when it was considered that nearly all the great public expenditure of the Government had ceased was very satisfactory. STATISTICAL. They all grumbled at taxation and the large increase of it. He pointed out that in 1870 they were taxed £3 4s 6d per head, in 1880 £3 9s lOd, but in the last was the education vote, which did not exist in 1870. Deduct this and it would be found that they were actually paying 2s Cd per head less now than in 1870, So that after all the bad times and the fact that the public debt was now nearly 30,000,000 The comparison was a satisfactory one. He made a comparison of the gain'of wealth of the population in different countries. In France the proportion was £lO Bs, in England £l4, New Zealand £2O per head per annum. These figures should give them fresh faith in the resources of the country. He also showed that New Zealand had increased in population in a greater degree than any other Australasian, colony, as from 284,000 in 1870, it had advanced to 490,000 in 1881, or at the rate of 97 per cent, while Victoria had increased 14 per cent, and New South Wales 40 per cent; these facts taken together plainly proved that they were not going back) and were very encouraging. Various opinions were expressed with regard to tho PROPERTY TAX. but he claimed that under it only those who had the means were made to pay, as all possessing property below £SOO were exempt from the tax, An alteration had been made in the Act, so that all absentees were caught by it, and 11 million pounds would be added to the amount taxable under the Act. He had no wish to bar foreign capital coming in, as it was really " money, that made the mare go," and foreign capital should be invited by all means, but he fully recognised that capital should pay general as well as local taxes, (Applause.) The whole cost of collecting the Property Tax was only 5 per cent, The Income Tax would cost much more, and be a very troublesome and inquisitorial one. ' ,'../ FINANCE. It was satisfactory to note that' last quarter's revenue showed a large increase, and if it continued through the

year there would .be an excess over estimated rovenue of £300,000. RETRENCHMENT. He had condemned the 10 per cent, reduction in toto. Thb Civil Service Commission had done, good work f but he did not consider it' one of their' duties to recommend'such a sweeping reduction as the 10 per cent; ■ one. Salaries of £IOOO might have borne it, but those under £2OO could not. The 10 per cent! had been restored, but it was satisfactory to find 30 per cent, more work was done now than when it was taken off. ~ He considered the Government's attempt at ■ ■ ■ • PROTECTION as being a very petty one in imposinga duty on jams, bacon, and ham. . A tax of this sort fell upon the many to the benefit of the few. He had been informed by a storekeeper that the effect in some instances had been to cause people to do without these articles altogether. He was in favor of the Government bonus system to encourage local industries, The cost of the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL had been stated to be £50,000, but they all knew it was very much less than that. The Council in the late session had been a great benefit to the country. It had been reproached for returning the Pension Bill to the House instead of passing itj but its reason for doing that was because it contained a retrospective clause, which would compel many who had received pensions in good faith ill the past to refund large sums. He thought they would agree with him when he said he considered the Upper House acted quite justly. (Applause.) He considered tho Council might be made partially elective, but not wholly so, as by the Ministers having power to appoint new members they could prevent such an unfortunate deadlock as occurred in Victoria a few years ago. He thought the Councillors might do without their honorariums, but that might prevent a very eligible man from being appointed through being poor. Reform in the Upper House was, he admitted, a very difficult question, but ■ he would be prepared to face it, and, give his earnest attention to it. He then dealt with the NATIVE DIFFICULTY. That evening they had been glad to go to the station and welcome home some of their volunteers who had so readily responded; to the call to arms. They had gone to the frontwillingly, whether the victory was to be a bloodless one or not, 'and had there been fighting he had no doubt that the Wairarapa volunteers, and all other corps, would have done their duty on behalf of New Zealand. (Applause.) He thought the Government had practically settled the native difficulty. (Applause.) Just complaint had been made, however, about the niggardliness of the Government towards the volunteers. The Go*vernment could not expend money more wisely than in training an efficient force of men, ready at the call of duty (applause), and the corps should be treated with liberality to bring about that result, (Applause.) He thought THE EDUCATION ACT as it now stood, should be carefully preserved. , Although complaints had been made as to the large sum voted for the purpose,hethought it thoroughly well spent. He was quite against the endowment system for higher education, as parents could and would pay for this if they required it for their children. With regard to the side of politics he should adopt, he had not in his published address pledged himself to support the HALL GOVERNMENT, but he would say now he intended to heartily support it while it continued honestly working for the country as it had done in the past. The Government had, of course, some faults, but they were minor ones. It had rescued the country from the muddle into which Grey arid Macandrew had plunged it. It had faced a very difficult position in 1879; when both public and private, credit! was at stake, and it deserved the thanks of New Zealand for the way in which it had pulled the country out of the mire. The Gaming and Lotteries Bill was certainly an abortion, as were also one or two pther measures. Still, as a whole, the Government had done .good work, and he would support it. He might say alittlefrom a ' j -.:. -iPERSONAL point. He was comparatiyelya stranger them, but since he had been a

resident in the district he had always received very hearty recognition of his services in helping to advance the prosperity of Wairarapa, and that had emboldened him to jcome forward now. An objection had!been raised againßt him, that if elected he would be a class representative. This he denied. If lie had wanted to add acre to acre and pound to pound, would he have spent : the time he had in promoting the interests of the Wairarapa 1 If elected, he must of necessity: look after all, if he wished to have their confidence on future occasions, He had been a settler in various parts of the Australian colonies for twenty-four years, and had worked as hard as any man, and whatever position he occupied he owed to his own endeavors, and it would be selfish if he failed to sympathise with those who had come to the colony a few years later, and were following the same road as himself. He always had believed in practical settlement. Many who were present were perfectly conversant with his course of action since he settled among them, and if they approved of it he would ask them with confidence to return him at the head of the poll. If returned, he would endeavor to promote the interests of the whole district with his best energies* If not returned he should still aot for the welfare of the district as in the past. He then thanked them for their patient hearing and expressed his readiness to reply to any question. He aat down amid considerableapplause. QUESTIONS. PENSIONS. In reply to Mr Parker, Mr Buchanan said he was strongly against granting fresh pensions, except in casej..where they could be legally claimed. EDUCATION. He did not think the Education Department paid its officers too highly, PROTECTION. To Mr H. Callister: He had stated that for fostering local industries he believed in direct aid from the State by means of bonuses. PRISON LABOR. To Mr Harrison; He was not in favor of prison labor competing with free labor, but thought it was an advantage for a prisoner to be taught a trade, and thus given a chance to earn an honest living (Applause). SETTLEMENT OP LANDS. To Mr Cohen; The Government intended to cut up for settlement the Crown lands in the South Mand whose leases would shortly fall in. STOATS AND WEASELS. To Mr Vile: Had come to the conclusion, after careful thought and personal investigation, that it was advisable to introduce the natural enemies of rabbits on to rough country wbioh could not bo effectually cleared in any other way. FIRE DRIGADES. To Mr Tolley: My action lately with regard to the Carterton Fire Brigade is a test of how I regard those useful institutions, and I shall alwayß be found giving them every encouragement (Applause). THE YOTE OF THANKS. Mr W. Booth, in rising to move a cordial vote of thanks to Mr Buchanan, wished to put himself right with re? gard to a letter, signed by Mr Cohen and appearing in a newspaper, saying that he (Mr Booth) had stated that he approved of Mr Boys' address. Mr Cohen had omitted to state that he (Mr Booth) had commenced his remarks by stating he was an opponent of Mr Boys, He had said he had listened with interest to Mr Boys address, and fully agreed with his views on education, and that was about the extent of his approval of it. He then alluded to Mr Buchanan's speech and said it had the solid qualities in it that would make it wear well. The speaker then contrasted Mr Buohanan with the two other candidates from a public point of view, and said he was the best man in the district they conld get, One who would "go alone" and work without being' watched. Mr Bunny was very affable and all that, but did not trouble himself when he was not being hunted up, and he did not think Mr Boys would suit them, Mr Booth made a capital speech highly complimentary to Mr Buchanan, and was greatly applauded. The vote of thanks wa» carried with acclamation, and a similar compliment to the chair concluded.* very well conducted meeting. ■