MR W. W. McCARDLE'S MEETING.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1726, 3 July 1884, Page 2

MR W. W. McCARDLE'S MEETING.

About 500 electors ansembled at the Theatre Royal, Masterton, last night to hear Mr McCardle's views. Mr A, W. Eenall oeeupied the chair, and briefly introduced the candidate for Wairarapa North, who was received with applause. Mr McOardle. said he had decided to contest the eleolion as • he considered a change was absolutely necessary, there hWng been great failure in the, past administration of the. Government of;th9 country. The Administrators of the Government had failed, to come up to tha expectation "f the people at large, They had thousands, of acres of fine lands still remaining unsettled. He had- personally Jor years spent time and money, in striving to obtain small farm settlements on liberal conditions but without success. Ho had not a word to say agaiust Mr Geo Beethain iu his private character, lie was acknowledged by ' a'l to be'a .perfect gentlem'aifpf irreproachable connections, but' he contended that he represented a class only, He (the speaker) should base his candidature on his programme and ( abide by the issue. Ho stood there not as a wealthy man, nor as the representative of a wealthy class, and he had told the gentlemen who had urged him to como. forward that he was not in<;a position to expend money upon contesting an election, but that ho would place his views before the public, leaving those who agreed with his principles to elect him; and his services should bodovotedto the carrying out of his programme. • Years ago

SIR JULIUS VOGEL. presented a golden view to this country with borrowed millions, tho country was to be tapped. witli railways, and the lands settled by immigrants, He would ask them how far have these prospects been roalised Nearly all the millions have been spent and the lauds were still locked up. . Had the Government carried out tin origiual polity as propounded by Sir Julius in its. entirety the waste lands of the country would now bo occupied by a thri\ ing' population. Had tho Government thrown open the lands and by liberal land laws induced the working men to settle on, them, the country would now be in a flourishing condition, He would ask what was to become of the working classes when the railways wer completed ? The only remedy for the present depression was to in »ko land laws sufficiently liberal to get people to settle, and to induce Home farmers to invest their capital in the colony, An extension of the system of deferred payment should bo nude to twenty years, This would give thorn time to mako their improvements and p.iy for their land without distressing them, an i to assist the settlers, 35 per cent, of the purchase money of the blocks should be spent in opening up roads- These terms would bring settlement within the reach oE thousands of men who are only too willing to obtain a permanent home, Even now numerous applications were made, but the Govonim ;ut off ere 1 no facilities for settlement, aud intending settlers were disgusted, The Wane Lands administrators had had no practical experience of the requirements of settlers. Mr (ieo, Beetham when he sought the suffrages of the people, siid ho would su.jp.rii a liberal land measure. Those brought in during the last session have had such obstacles placed in their way as to make them practically inoperative. In 1876 a number' of person 8 formed an association in tho Forty-Mil e Bush, but the o years compulsory residonce clause made it utterly impossible for them to take advantage of the deferred payment system. Had residence been optional, thousands of acres of what was now standing bush would have been thriving settlements by this time. Ho was one of a deputation who waited upon the Waste Lands Board to obtain a block of land iu the Forty-Mile Bush to bo opened up on deferred payment. The Board promised to giye them every encouragement, and he, with others, visited and reported upon the Makakeke block (now known as tho Pahiatna settlement) as a suitable block to meet the requirements of the proposed settlers; but upon submitting the same to the Waste Lands Board' they wero informed they had picked out the best bloek of land in the Island, and they could not have it, but an inferior block was offered them and declined. His idea was t 0 introduce a deferred payment systemwwi n optional residence, so that a business man in town might ckooso for himself a block of land, stay in the town and earn money to clear his land and so assist the ' [settler who • went on his land to clear and cultivate. People were crying out for the thousands of acre' between hero aud Hawko'a Biy to bo thrown open and all obstacles removed to settlement, They had como to the colony to make homes for themselves, and he, as one of them, was determined to raise his voice and agitate the question till success crowned his efforts, It mattered little to the Govern.ment whether tho time for payment was 20 or 30 years, so long as the land was opened up and settled, Then their railways would be made to pay, and the condition of the colony [would be flourishing, instead of n the present depressed state,

AN ELECTIVE BOARD, . Mr George Beetliam told them ho would no rest until a measure was brought in making the Waste Landa Board elective body, or the waste lands handed over to the control of the County Councils, but what change ha,i taken place ? Why, Mr Beetham had himself become a rnoaiber of the Land Board. If eleo. ted he would raise his voice to sweep out the 1 resent system of appointing members to the Board and make it an elective body. This would give. electors a more direct voice in the control of the funds, He 'would further introduce a clause setting aside 35 per cent of the. purchase money to be'handed over to the Road Boards for then) to expend in the opening up of roads, He had not come forward on the

. ... . (MONTY QUESTION, though he still held that the County Councils should be wiped out. The Government have.made the maintenanoo of the main roads fall upon the district, and having done so should havo provided a' fund for their support. PUBLIC WORKS POLICY. What amount of money should be borrowed in the country for expenditure upon public works ? Sufficient should be obtained to complete the connection of the main lines of railway in the colony. He was convinced that the completion of the Maetertontlfspiey line would help to settle the bush district. He considered this was the only purpose for whioh borrowed capital was required,

THE NATITK DEPARTMENT, was a very expensive. laxury,' and he would sweep it away altogother, and he would also do away with the Armed Constabulary, and would solve.the Parihaka difficulty by settlement, making a' condition that if ■ required tho services of settlers should be given for tho preservation ol peace, ,li\ ~: ; railways.;. ' _■_;;■ He would take the management of railways but of the Hands of the*. Government, aud work them" by, a commission, The wjar and tear of the stock would be muoh lessened'" if ■ tho heavy traffic were worked separators, and the speed of the light traffic be increased,' ■'■' ' TAXATION. all aware the House was divided into, two parties upon the question of taxation, one being in favor of a Property Tax and the other a Laud Tax. He was in favor of a Land Tax 83 being more equitable and one that did not tax improvements, Large numbers of IMMIGRANTS were brought. to our shores during pa&V years, but no permanent settlement -|mL been obtained by the majority of t5» About every five years the colouv appelreu to get into a depressed condition," Hundreds then left the colony to seek- employment elsewhere* It would' bo fir' bettor for tho Government to' provide work for them at bnshfelling on tho Crown .Lands, thus saving the expense of new importations. He would place it out of the power of any one man to get more than a limited'quantity of land. He did not censure owners of large blocks, as they had a perfect right to buy when it was offered them;'but he blamed the laws and lawmakers for allowing it to be so. He would encourage local'manufactures by import duties. Many things that'were imported, could be made here, As regards the ■ ■■•■:.■■>■ ■.<■ UPPER HOUSE '.•,;.■ he would reform'it by' entirely' abolishing■ it, (Load cheers.) He considered the' present members of the Lower House'as | representatives of the wealthy class'and large runholders, and if. things went on at the same rate present, thtv would soon be in the same fix as in the Old Country. fledeprecated going-behiud the scenes as Mr Beetham did to obtain sinall fai'ora for the district. The requiremeats of tlie district should be demauded as a right from the floor of the House. He had been told that Mr Sutton,'the late Scab Inspector, bad lost his place through-' BACK-PARLOR INFLUENCE. • He did not say that either Mr Beetham or Mr Buchanan had done this, but'this could not happen if all business were done from the iloor of the House.-(Loud' Oheers.)~He intended to take his stand -in Opposition to the late Government, He did "not pledge himself to any party, his "aim being to support measures, not men, ..a liberal lamt reform and a liberal settlement of the colony, EDUCATION, : .;': He would support Government aid up to the sixth standard and cut off the higher classes. ° CIVIL SERVICE. He would abolish the ornamental heads of the departments with large salaries, and not further reduce the smalt salaries of the actual workers. Ho would also cut off pensions, as he considered that out of their ! great salaries men : should be able ! to pave sufficient to retire oh, He would' ask those who agreed.with his views as put before them to accord him their support, aud ho . would be pleased to answer any questions put to him by the electors, In answer to this invitation a militarylooking gentleman made his' appearance on the stage, and, amidst' cheers from tho audience attempted to speak, but his voice was drowned by the ones of 'goiit, now chum, - 'Go to the Salvation Army,'. &c, In answer to a question from the Chairm'uu, lie said ho was not an elector of Wairarapa y North, but Mr Heetham had been very kind i to him, aud he was anxious to express his , thanks. Tho continuous noise of the audience compelled him to retire, Mi' Win. Lowes, who was received with great applause, proposed a vote ot thanks to Air McCardlc for the able manner in which he had addressed the meeting, and he would I like to ask his views. upon ; . the'question of 'honorariums, which had been lost sight of ' in the tirade of abuse of the Government, i What about the £BI,OOO that had just been voted into their, pockets? He was glad to , see that Mr Beetham and Mr Buchanau both voted tor the reduced amount of £IOO instead of £2OO.—(A voice: What's a £IOO to yon 'J Mr Lowes said £IOO to him meant £SO in ono pocket and £SO in the other,... Within the next fortnight ho said he should have the opportunity .of addressing them from the platform.

Mr McCardlo said he should bo quite as able to do with £IOO of honorarium as tho gentleman who had just sat down. ' Not ono shilling would go into his pocket over and above bis expenses. . Mr Lowes had told, them that their Wairarapa members had not voted for the full honorarium, but if there had been any chance of the vote being lost their voices would have been as loud as any others in voting for it. He considered £IOO ample to pay his expenses. They had hoard from Mr Lowes that he was coming forward. -(Mr Lowes: No I no !)-(Audieuco'; Yes! yes!) ~..'.' Mr Lowes said that he did not mean to give the impression that'he intended to come forward a) a candidate, although he had been requisitioned by a large number of electors, He could not afford to make enemies for his partner or his family, H e concluded by formally proposing a vote of thanks to Mr McCardle, A gentleman in tho body of the hall attempted to make himself ieard, but shouts of "Platforml" "Kingdom Come I" completely collapsed him, In answer to Captain Muir, the candidate said ho would be in favor of putting the Fire Brigade on the same footing, as tho Volunteers, as regards placing a sum on the estimates; aud in answer to Mr Ford, he would consider the question of supporting the establishment of a National Bank for the colony. ... Mr E, Meredith, soar., said he rose to second the vote of thanks proposed by Mr Lowes. The electors had a duty to per. form, and should record their vote at the poll in favor of the man able and willing to do the most good for his country, whether large ruuholder or small ;farmer, At the present timo the country was in a very embarassed condition: the Ministry not daring to face it, and Parliament not con. taming the ingredients to form a Ministry capablo of grasping the situation. Through, out the length and breadth of the laud complaints were raised of the grinding taxation and the depressed, state of tne country, Could it be believed that one of the causes of the present state of things was assigned in the Governor's speeeh- to be the bad weather? (Ironical cheers.) The weather, indeed ! it was a southerly wind in the Treasury chest. What was the storm that was brewing up throughout the length and breadth of New Zealand ? He considered that one great cause of the depression was that their great sources of export were becom. ing Bcarce, and prices getting lower and lower. The 1 principal cause of this being that those magnificent pastures in Southern America had got into the-hands' of lonoj headed Englishmen and. Scotchmen,' (vtrji had imported t|ie best, breeds of stock into" their lands, and the increase in their exports was so marked as to consider" ably affect the Australian .wool trade Of course the Legislature had no control over it, but they should keep it before their mind when bori owing and expending large sums of money on non-productive''works aa they would be handing down a legacy there would be a great difficulty in throwing off, and for this cause thoughtful men should be sent to Parliament irrespective of their position, who would Btudy the interests "of the colony as a whole.—(Cheers.) . The Chairman put .the motion to the meeting which was carried unanimously amid great applause, . ... * A yote of thanks to the Chairman (Mr Kenall) concluded the meeting. In answer to Mr McCardle a number of gentlemen formed themselves into a committee to secure his return, . • •