PUBLIC MEETING.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1732, 10 July 1884, Page 2

PUBLIC MEETING.

A public meeting was hold in the Theatre Royal_ last night to discuss the political situation. Mr Buick occupied the chair, supported by JMessre Cave, Hawkins, and Herbert, members of the Wairarapa North Settlers' Association.

Iho Chairman introduced Mr Hawkins, the President, who asked permission to contradict a statement thac had appeared is the Press to the effect that this meeting was called in the interests of one of the candidates.

Mr Huwkinssaid-I hope to-night that all present will recollect thit this is not ut candidates meeting, That it is not called together in the interest of either candidates but is essentially a meeting of the people of the'dtstrict. What seems to me as esp'eoially necessary is that we should keep clearly before us the main iaaues which have to be decided at this election. Policy The measures which we wish carried out and the men by whom they should be carried out. I thmk it will be conceded that the Association has done some useful work in the past, Let us look to what has happened. It may be disputed by some that the influence of the Association has had any part in brin»iug about what has happened, but at least itwill bo conceded that the coincidences are marked, The Association as early as October 1883 called attontion to the serious blunder mule by the Government in dividing up the constituencies into single seats. The Government announced their intention of reuniting the constituencies. The Association denounced the' free passes 0:1 railways. The Government made a timid move and reduced the free passes to the press, lhey attacked the attempts at Land Nationalisation and the Railways Besnmption of Laud Bill, though made a main feature of the Public Works staiemont, The Bill was cast aside and huddled away at the close of the session. Throughout the colony the fraud of Land Nationalisation is repudiatad, and one of the candidates 01 the adjoining county has thought it necessary to reiterate and emphasise at successive meetings his denial of ah sympathy with this measure, The action of the Waste Lands Boards and the Waste Lands Policy' were equally condemned. In this constituency we have one who was a warm supporter of Mr Kolleston now condemning his entire policy. In August 1883 the association had its attention called to the evil arising from the liability of tho Government to pressure by the grain interests in Canterbury, and in March 1881 it passed a resolution that it was desirable that the railways should be placed under a nonpoliiio-tl Board, and there is every reason to beiwve Chat the opinion of the next Parliament will be taken on this question. Weli, gentlemen,. th ise are some of the questio is dealt with by the Association and I think you «i.l i, gwa with me-not dealt with in vain, and though the Wellington Press refused to forward telegrams or to take any notice of your association, its procee.liugs were repnuted verbatim in the Utago Daily Tim&s, whence it spread through out the colony from Ducedin to Auckland, and in Wellington itself a well known distributing agency wired to Masiertou for every copy that could bo got of the newspapers containing the reports of your meetings. Gentlemen, I balieva that this association has contributed in no light degree to the overthrow of the Atkinson Kolleston Ministry. Well that throws a heavy obligation on the Association, the obligation of disseminating such ideas of policy as may help to bring about a better Government, (Applause). I have been watching attentively the reports of the speeches of candidates here and elsewhere at this election. What it seems 10 me we have to fear is that in the pissions of personal and class quarrels, prejudices, and antipathies, in the endless wandering over barren details of administration, the real grand object we ought all to have in view, the good government of this colony, vill be lost sight of. Why have we desired to get rid of the Atkinson-Rolleston administration ? Because they have misgoverned this country, Their finance was bad. Their land administration was bad. Their public works policy was bad, Apologists of tho Ministry are never tired of repeating that the cause of depression are the bad prices of wool and grain, and that the Government cannot be responsible for these low prices. Now, this is simply the stale trick of puttiug up an argument and knosklns; it down, Tho Ministry were never held responsible for the low prices of wool and corn.. The ohargo brought against the Ministry is that the depression existiug they have not only utterly failed in the very attempt to relieve it, but they have aggravated it by incompetent financo and bungling taxation and half administration; that they have squandered the revenue and squandered £2,000,000 of the loan. And when they aro charged with their incompetence and waste they plead first their own inability to help the policy, and then give us the impertinent recommendation to bo moro thrifty, They whose wasteful administration has asgrarated our difficulties turned round on us and bid us bo thrifty. I do not know what they would have us do, [I have a pretty shrewd idea that somo of the town settlers liavo been compelled for some time to bo very careful in their expenditure, but I know that the country settlers are thrifty, evsn to Parsimony; that the limits of economy are passed; and that many and many a household foregoes what in ordinary times would be deemed bare necessaries, (Applause.) Ido not know whether this is considered a goud jolio by the Ministers and their supporters. In the days of the French Bevolution, a fiaanoa schemer, Old Toulon, being asked iu objection to one of his finance schemes what the people would do, said, "Let tho people eat grass," Well, ho found it was ill jesting with hungry tigers. Tho people remembered tho saying, and one day in the mad whirlpool ot that terrible Bevolution, thoy caught him, hanged him, cut off his head, filled the mouth with hay, and stuck it on a polo, That was tho answer to .Toulon; Now, we don't want to hurt the Major, but I do think that it is only retributive justice to deprive him of his Ministerial salary of £1590 a yoar and send him to the Opposition benches to learn the "thrift" he so jauntily recommends to us. (Loud cheers,) Now, I have charged the Government with waste and with frittering away the loan, Let ma show what I mean. We have no Publio ' Works statement for 1884 and 1855,801 must rely on that for 1883 and 84, Now that gives a total expenditure and liaVilifciea on authorities and contraots, of, in round ' figures, £2,000,000, Tho first item on the : account is railways, and that stands at ' £970,997 or nearly one million. How is it 1 spent and allotted,- It ia placed on 24 ' 1

diilerent bits ot railways. Th o longest bit was en the Otago Central, 23 miles 57 . chains; the next was Hanilfcon to "'l'a Aroha, 16 milesl79 chains; after that no one bifc exceerteil 12 mi'eg Tim i i extension was 11 miles 76 chains, the Opt" 8 miles 6 chains, and these took £BS nnn The bit from Blenheim, 4 miles 40 chains ' mwt mouth ' 8 mil( * 31 chains At the ClarenoaEiver tha Government are SS V" 1 "" We « 4 ■ ilb,ooo. Ihero is no raihrn w;m;„ t believe, about 40 miles of this bridge Ind on the southern end is only a horse 'track Surts Pre S itO,ia , ba3o of L^k o ro on to , Kaikouras, The railway from Blenheim 1 gOM nowhere. It Will not pay a quart ™ its working expenses, if it jg worked at aU ; and cannot be of any use whatever till it i reaches tha Awatere, a distance of 21 miles I Theso are specimens of the railway expendil ' l ,r r t l n° V^ mnout ' Ido Qot hesitate i to say that hardly oue of these 24 bits of lines will pay its working ex pences till the 1 1™ of which % are p irt ; 3 completei and j that to construct your railways on' this i system is the most gross mismanagement of 5 the loan.—(Applause.)—This rai |i ion of i money has not only added £40,000 a year to i your'taxesinterest, but it has added** t much arger sum to pay f or work®' . hese little white elephants of memmrtF > tive bits of lines, and on what is it based ? I On the fatal principle, or want of principle, of wha I have before styled " balanced jobbery." A bit for Nelson, a bit for Wellington, a bit for Napier, a bit for Marlborough, a bit for Southland, two bits for Auckland, two bits for Otago, two bits ' for Canterbury, a bit for Wfstland, a bit for apaki.and bo on. (Laughter and cheers.) It is, gentlemen, your own faults. You call ! * member e 00 l? r Mio proportion to liia I success m getting sums of public money allotted to your county, and until the 1 nature nf rtS the ruinous l 0 * 6 " amble for public money, until wo get a Minister able enough, bold enough and independent enough to tell the • cobny the truth and apply the money to ( colonial profit, mstead of to district bribery, , you will have continued depression, bad tunes, and wasteful misgoveratnent, (Ap. fiZ 1% p ea l' 6 vr ot whiofa liu6 is takon • ! hr'i fl , Poxto t n fr iVoutl! line has i only 15 mi esont of 138 to complete it. The Napier-Wellington line has only 62 milos to complete. Ido not know how ths Southern ; lailways stand. But I think it must bo , manifest ir, a colonial point of view that it , is simple folly to leave these two lines thus ■ St"' t I ApP n USe) - That * would be f.u alI ' han to add i .' , 0 an d that the true policy for colony is to take a survey of all the railwaW and apply the loans in completing or retardi '7 which will give tbe quickest 1 !nl returns for the expenditure, without ! regard to the island or province in which they are situate. (4 voice : Never!) ! Gentlemen, never is* long time, and I havo ' > , , m , sllorl experience that the , "ever of to-day becomes the fact of tomorrow. (Cheers,) The present course is a , rand on tho entire colony, a fraud on the , foreign creditors, and a perpetuation of a system of local distributions fatal to the Prosperity of the peopb, Well, gentleman, 1 na\e taken the railways. It will'be impossible to go all through tli9 items of «W £2,000,000 expeaditure, but I will mentiou one, publio buildings. £235 033 «!• No? d ° Ue - by " iIi J uiß ' ry who P r ® huft. Not one sixpence does this expeudi- . ture produce or save to the colony. Costly prisons, Post Offices, Government Building, ' J™™ for tlw House of Representatives; aud this at a time when we can got no money to open up (jrown lauds or to make ■ tor tka sutlers, If theso grand buildmg* were ab my . m g a eflfecting eoanauv in fhe pnblie fcrviow ii S f f', ul era ' v fl ' esh "Plendor adds to the splendor of the occupants, to he sense of tlnir self-importance; and to their numbers. As the hive gets bigger th.*. bees increase and, alas 1 the drones increajk also. (Applause),-Thrift! While we . gentlemen, are denying ourselves almost necessaries, stopping even paying improverants, and leaving no stone unturned to 1 reduce our expenditure within the narrow Limits of possible profit, this Government is our money jn every direction and hying to maintain itself iu otlice by the election of sumptuous buildings and what !L n ° w- 8r thaa . the Cormpt distribution of tho pub ho works loan. In speaking of loans I cannot refrain from saying a word as to Julius Vogel, 1 know but little personally, of him, but 1 know that he is a nan of largo and wide views and of consnmmate ability. I know that ho is not responsible for the abuse of his loaapoli™ and let us see how this Atkiuson-Rolleston Si? h 7 tr l ed k im ' Yon ffill remembor that whan Whitakerww Premier he was bcitor, orpiftuer, with tho solicitor to In Bank of New Zealand—tho Bank that his its grip over every part of the colony and 13 a dangerous power in the State. You r member the L 600.000 lodged in the Bank Mr Wh H i' We "' m ountlillt wifcl > this Mr Whi alter became Director of a new Financial and Loin Company for the ei.lonv and hu name was advertised on tho lint At Directors, and as Premier of this col# That is tb very last position i n my ; U( ]£ ment, that the Premier of this colony should have allowed his name to appoar in. Wo 11 A director formed for buying from oue of these very big others to go out from England and settle on Company or the W Si? Julius gave up the Agency. This is the justice of the Atkinson-Kolleston Ministry, lor one and the same oanse Whihlroi. ; 0 knighted, r Vogel dismissed, fdo noUcao" what Sir Juhus would do if m power, he Ts against the Property Tax and in favor of i Land Tax. (Cheers). Now that Sv" little because a Property Tax may be mil very just or very unjust, and so may a Land Tax, and the lato Ministry made tho St J n Ve,y T UnjU3t - As anown er of land I would say I am quite ready to pay my full share of taxation, and it a Land lax is to be au element in that be it so. But if by a Land Tax you mean to make a second , rent on my and, that having paid inc .s^ the price demanded by the State for thW land you now intend to put on a Tax which ' shall in effect makomepay the purchase money over again, then I am entirely opposed to such a Tax as unjust and fatal to the laud settler, Ido not think Sir Julius means that, and if by relieving the money from all taxation he can restore confidence to the capitalist and can causo money again to flow into the colony at reasonable rates of interest, the tax he may placo on the land will bo more than balanced in the rates of interest on money, The colony is suffering now from dear money. I believe Sir Julius Yogel is clear onough in hia knowledge of finance, and statesman enough ■ to comprehend that to try and mike money easy while he threatens by undue taxation the security of the land, ii an impossible problem, and that as tho chief U3a of money hcreistne development of land, so the true pohoy is to give confidence to both In speaking of this I do not omit'labor because I underrate its pre-eminent value, bnt because it does not enter into the simple question as between land and money with which I am now dealing. Thero is one more item on which I must say a few words. I daresay lam going to say what is unpopular, it is immigration. The expenditure liability on this was £24,564, That is the smallest item and wm engage to fay that it is the only one jfri which it may be said that it has added times its amount to the wealth of the colony. (Murmersof dissent). Am I unpopular 'in speaking thus of immigration. Then the w»th is unpopular. A voice: It is not the truth). Is it not an accepted truth that it is men who have added to the wealth of the colony. (Applause) And will you tell me that a man is not better than a sheep and that 1000 men added to the colony will add no more to its wealth that 1000 sheep, (Loud cheers,) I say that aa long as thig

colony, and especially this island, has vast traots of good culturablo land lying wasto every good man you bring who by his ' occupation in the old world is fitted to face the first difficulties of ihe bush settlemont is a solid gain to the colony, aud I say that unless yon do get Buch men you will continue under tho depression that exists, (Applause, But whether such men can be induced to como or not depends on the law and administration of the law of wasto lands, I have been always very plain spoken on this. I have no sympathy, hardly any patience, with tho men who try to persuade people that no man ought to have or oocupy more than a hundred A acres of land that it is tho men who have jßlargo tracts of pastoral land that are the enemies of the workingmen—tyrants who deprive them of their rights and all the ferrago and rubbish that fills the satchels of these peripatetic grievance mongers. I have 12,000 acres at Bowlands—(a voice: too much.) A gentloman says ' too much' but I have bought and paid for it, and I am quite ready to sell it to anyone who will pay me what it has cost, (Laughter and awtac.) There are not more than 500 sjjftnn the wholo block which could be p™hcd at all. The greater part of that is hill. I ploughed part and I found that it could not bo done to profit and so hid it down in grass. The whole of tho rest of the property is fit for nothing but feeding sheep and cattle, and probably never will be fit for anything else. There are millions of acres liko this in New Zealand, and when men talk of England, Belgium, France, and .</, Holhnd, and liken New Zealand to them " and draw references as to distribution of land and population, they show either deep ignorance or aro guilty of a very wilful perversion of the truth. (Applause.)" That some men should have acquired large tracts of cultivatable laud and kept them as sheep pasture offers no reason why large tracts of such rough and even precipitous country as I have described should be kept waste under the preposterous idea that they can be divided into 100 acre sections and lot to small farm settlers. The difference between cultivatablo awl pastoral hnds must be recognised, and to try and create ill fcelini; and strife between tho plough cultivator and the pastoral settler is as impolitic as it is wicked. Tho two ought to eo hand in band the one should aid and encourage the other. (Applause.) Now I blame the Government for their land policy. They have been trying to squeeze the utmost value out of the land regardless of the injury they did to the fr in the taking from him a price which eyond all margin of intrinsic value. , emptied the settlers' pockets and then put him upon the land to be the prey of money lenders and tho debtor of the store Adsceper. They impoverished him aud tied ' w '*rMs hands and fettered his feet, and bid him go work for the colony and be thrifty.— (Cheers,) They have tied up land all through the district, which under a liberal policy would have been settled twice over, for what -to wait till the railway was made and so obtain the highest iictitnus value for the land. I charge them wiih lwing, by their blind niggardly policy kept back the wh'de of this country, from the Wangao'au to Eketahuna, and stopped the progress and hindered the prosperity of the whole country. (Applause.) And now 1.1 us look at what they have done and do with the money. I have said this before, but I must say it again, and never cease saying it till the thing is changed. The Government ' squandered in 1883.84. £155,313 on the mere administrative work of the Land Department, or £37 IGa per cent, of the whole money received by them in ten years for sales and rents of land, and of tho sale money alone is taken £sl per cent. Gentlemen this Goyernment recommends us thrift! I think we could easily find a few business men who would be willing to conduct the salpof lands of the colony for a £lO per cent i!SHk}ission. But we are in a greater danger simf: the Minister of Lands (Mr Bollcston) has enforced an absolutely autocratic principle, The Land Boards are cyphers; GQBe one true Land Agent of the colony is .TP&tr Kolleston ; but while I desire the good government of the colony aud the wise administration of its resources, and I recognise that it is on your comprehension of the problems that have to be solved will depend the future action of whomsoever you may send to tho House as your representa-tive-(Loud and continued applause,)— Eeally the autocrat—the Land Boards—are the ostensible authorities, and all responsibility is evaded between the two, I cannot take up your time further. I hope there are others that will address you, I would only urge you to accept what I have said in good faith and honesty. I have no friend to serve or axe to grind. Mr A, W. Eeiwll responded to the vociferous demand of the audience by ascending the platform, and said he had not intended spoking at that meeting, but aftsr what they had beard in the able address of the President he was induced to say a few words. He would liko to know how long such a Ministry would stand who to carry measures such as had bflHiidvanced by Mr Hawkins.—(Hear, Hear.)— Would ihe people of tho North Island rest contented if the money borrowed for the whole colony was spent in the South alone.—No]! no !)—Then neither Jf would tho South ttand its being all spent in the North.—(Laughter.)—The Government was carried on by the majority, Mr Hawkins evidently know nothing of the way in wlrch the Government was worked. It was what was done bc'iind the scenes, not to the face that carried the measures, It did away with this responsible Government, which had been introduced by Mr E. Gibbon Wakefield. The Ministry had to bring forth a policy that they could cany through by .i majority of the House, and if they did not they had to turn out and tho country was put to great expense. The present system was a mere scramble for place, and thepood of the country was sacrificed. Now, such a state of things d'd not exist under tho American form oi Government. There the President and Representatives were elected by the people for four years, and at the end of that time if the people were satisfied that they had done their duty they were put in again for another term if not they wero sent about their business. Mr Hawkins had said Rolleston was to blame (Hawkins: Hear, hear,) that the country between this and Eketahuna was no' opened up, He would say Mr Hawkins knew nothing about it. The land laws wero jmost liberal but one of its defects was the system of tendering for the sections, Making working men compete against each other was not right. a«i created an unneighbourly spirit a-nffljfould substitute the system of ballot as used in the disposal of the Masterton and Greytown land with such satisfaction and success,—(Cheers,) —After giving those, present an interesting account of the difficulties and trials of the early settlers, Mr Benall touched upon Mr George's scheme of land nationalisation, He bad been possessed of an acre in Masterton—that on which l.lfnison House stood—that with fences and taxes, &e„ had cost him about £SO. He. had sold it some short time ago for £IOSO, Who bad the right to that money ? (Cries of' anli up; We have; and roars of laughter.) Any how, he had got it. —(laughter) — But he had done nothing to earn it. The population around him had improved and improved and so increased its value, and tho population should be the ones to reap the benefit. He considered that the Association would have been quite 'justified in discussing the question of the elections. In fact no harm could be done as we have no representative to discussneither of the candidates may represent us. Mr Hawkins himself might come forward and turn them out, and if bo would give a guarantee to carry through his piogramme he should have his vote. If this Association was not going to operate on the Government through its members, he asked A them, bow was it going to make itself I ttjhCegitimate channel through which to out the objects of its formation. It looked as if one were afraid and the other wouldn't speak. He thanked them for their patient hearing and resumod. his seat amidst cheers, Mr Hawkins briefly replied, and concluded by thanking the audience for their attendance and attention and moving a vote of thanks to the chairman-Mr Buick. Mr Benall seconded, and asked thc audience to include the ■ name of tht President .in the motion, which was carried amidst cheers.

; THE BAD AND WORTHLESS .are never imitated or counterfeited This is especially true of a family medicine, and it is positive proof that the remedy imitated is of the highest value. As soon as it had been tested and proved by the whole world that Hop Bitters was tho purest, best and most valuable family medicine on earth, many imitations sprung up and began to steal the notices in which the press and the people of the country had expressed the merits of H. 8., and in every way trying to induco suffering invalids to use their stuff instead, expecting to make money on the credit and good name of H. B. Many others started nostrums put up in similar style to 11, R, with variously devised names in which the word "Hop" or " Hops" were used in a way to induce people to believe they were the same as Hop Bitters. All such pretended remedies or cures, no matter what their stylo or name is, and especially those with tho word" Hop" or " Hops" in their namo or in any way connected with them or their name, are imitations or counterfeits. Beware of them. Touch none of them. I/se nothing but genuino American Hop Bitters, witlr a bunch or cluster of Green Hops on the whito label, and Dr Soule's name blown in the glass. Trust nothing else. Druggists aud Chemists are warned against dealing in imitations or'counter cits.