Political.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2617, 7 June 1887, Page 2

Political.

MR HAWKINS AT MASTERTON. In response to an invitation from Mr 11, S. Hawkins to the electors of North Wairarnpa, between six and sevon hundred persons were present at the Masterton Theatre Royal last evening (Monday) among whom were several well-known settlers ot South Wairarapa, 'I here were also a' number of ladies in the gallery, The chair was occupied by Mr E. Feist who, in opening the proceedings, said that ho did not anticipate that his duties would be of an arduous nature, as the gentleman who was to address the meeting was well known for his eloquence, and the forcible manner in which he placed his views before his hearers and he trusted that tlioy would give him their undivided attention during the delivery of his address. He impressed upon the audience the necessity of everyone making themselves acquainted with the principles of the several candidates that would appear before them, so that they could exercise the franchise so liberally bestowed upon the people of the colony, to the advantage of the colony and the district, and did not consider that his action in prosidiug at the meeting was at all binding on the way in which lie was to record his vote. (Cheers), Mr Hawkins, who was loudly cheered on rising, said that after the carelul manner in which the Chairman had defined the position of electors he had nothing to add to it. He said his position was that ho stood before them to bo judged, not whether he was a successful sheep farmer, egotistical, of gentle birth, courteous in manner or smooth of tongue, but whether he had such ability, know ledge, hold such opinions, was of suc!r .proved courage and honesty of purpose as would justify theiu in accepting him as their representative in Parliament, He had issued an address and had been told that there were things in it hard to he understood, well, he would try and make tl.eni more plain to the meeting. He had been told he had not referred to local matters. This was not becauso he did not think them of importance, as he would appeal to his public life there as the best evidence that he was a well wisher to, the progress of the district, whether town or country. He would like to impress upon them that if they chose a representative only with a view to promoting local interests; they were doing a great injury to themselves and failing in their duty to the colony at large. (Cheers). He attributed the present indebetedness of the colony, to I be fact that men had boen returned to the House of Representatives on local questions in; stead of the broad questions that affect the country at large He hoped that whoever was sent from Wairarapa North, whether it was Mr McCardlo Mrjßeetbam, or himself, that the electors would break ' through the old tradition of the past. He asked them

not to degrade their member to crawl i up back stairs, to sneak about lobbies < to get a billet for one, a pension for I another, or a gratuity for a third. To i obtain public money for ono township i aiul a building for another, to corrupt i expenditure, till all politics are de- ' graded to the level of the publicliouse bar, and may be summed up, "lou shout for me. and I will shout for you,' (Applause) v „ He would now try to explain the meaning of the. true democracy. In the • •United. States every member of the legislature, and the Supreme Head—the Presidentwas elected by the people. There were no social difference 1 ?, no hereditary privileges, no rank, no title. ■ Therewas practically no military class, for what there ' was was so small as to have no effect on the policy of the State. The only title of respect there was the industry, energy, honesty, wisdom and the genius of man, (Cheers). The chief executive ruling ever a population of fifty millions, a man whose powers and responsibilities were of llie gravest character, was always content to remain a simple citizen, his salary was limited to ten thousand pounds a year, and at the end of his term he retired again into private life. Another great point was they had no Foreign policy, instead of which, however, its simplest mcssagn to the world was—peace Tho result ( of this was, that the whole of the great democracy was devoted to developing the natural resources and the improvement of all classes of tho population. In New Zealand, thero was a democracy under Foreign control, and dangerously implicated in a Foieign policy. There was a population of about five hundred thousand, with a nominee of the monarchy to control tho policy of tho State. There was a governor paid seven thousand pounds a year, with residence and other service monies added, Titles and honors wero borrowed from the Old Country to create a kind of aristocracy of minor satellites to circle round the chief sun of the system, (Laughter,) Thero was a foreign policy with its attendant military class, and-there would soon be a Navy. He considered that the high salary of the Governor was the key note of official salaries throughout the scale, and that .instead of peaco and economy there was foreign policy and extravagance. Instead of social equality there was Sir Robert this and Sir William that, mid no doubt they would soon havo-Viscounts, Earls, noblo and most noble Loids, (Cheers,) In Canada they saw that the Premier, bad been ! created a peer, and ho had no doubt other colonies would struggle for similar honors. With referenco to the Colonial Exhibition he said it was necessary that the produce ami industries of this colony should be done justice to there, and the Government sent home a collector of moa bones and Maori curiosities—Mr Yon Haast, the Christchuroh Barnum (loud laughter); and to further show their contempt for their products they also sent Dr Buller, who had made a fortune in those robber's dens, the Native Land i Courts of the colony, a man who hung his walls with the portraits of his Maori clients, just as a JNortli American Indian suspends in his wigwam the scalps of his slaughtered enemies. (Loud laughter). The Wellington Court had lately made an unsuccessful prowl for a Jubilee fund. The naino of Queen Victoria had been used in a manner in which her loyal admirers must deeply regret, The Queen was a virtuous woman, and tho acknowledged head of a great nation, and he did not think it added to her greatness by men falsely and generously attributing to her all the progress the British Empire had made during the last fifty years. (Cheers). He had read with shame ■ some of the speeches delivered by men in New Zealand, and he' wondered if tlieso sycophants hoped to arrive at Knighthood by the ardour of thcit obsequiousness and the amount of their subscriptions. (Mr Hawkins here read an extract from Reider Haggard's book, "She,"as reminding him of the crawling and servility of tho little court at Wellington), On resuming his speech he said he protested against Imperialism and Militarism, that he was loyal to the demociacy and that ■ the people might have to consider their present form of Government, Sir William Jorvcis was a military man, tin expert in military engineering. He was sent to induce, by his advice and. skill, the colony to embark in worksof defence. He had succeeded very well in this, and now an attack by sea had been commenced, aud Admiral Tryon hud been sent to induce the colony to go in for a fleet of ironclads to cruise about the Pacific to give warning of tho approach of the enemy, and in the meantime he could cruise about and enjoy himself at the expense of the colony. (Applause), lie alludod to the £500,000 borrowed by the Government for these works —an annual interest of <£20,000 to be paid to. England, and ridiculed the appointment of Major-General Whitmore, as chief of the army of New Zealand. He said that bogus scares were got up to give color to all these appointments, and defence preparations, and that was the origin of the "Great Russian Scare." In the last century Franca was the English "bogey" which cost that country .£800,000,000 and filled England with paupers, but Freetrade and commerce had stripped the winding sheet from the'" bogey," and now the two countries were closely united in an alliance, which statesmen knew would be a crime to disturb, One of the essentials for a " bogey" was that the people should not know what was in it, and as she English people did not know much about Russia that "scare' was introduced, He then alluded to the history of the Crimean war which cost England £69,000,000, a war that wqa a blunder and a useless crime, and which left a terrible legacy to England and India. He then related an episode of this warasshowingfrora his own experience what a great crime it was, It referred to an old English yeoman who had live sons, strong, powerful lads, who sacrificed their lives in their country's cause, leaving the old couple —Jim andflannah Davie—to go down to their graves childless, He asked his audience in the name of the common Father and the Prince of Peaoe

f they were going to. bring these i [uarrels and wholesalo murders into ( ihis new world, and if 80 why 1 (loud 1 ipplauso) He alluded, to .the former ( jzar of Russia who was a great friend I )f the British nation, whsse name was known over the whole country, and i who \vo3 greatly revered by all classes, ' Re sett a memorandum to the British < Government showing that the conditions of, Turkey required immediate attention, and asked the ; British Government to assist him tq place things on a satisfactory footing, This memorandum had been thrown on one side, and nothing further was heard of it, In 1875 the war party in England tried to instigate the. people against Russia, but they had then to contend against Mr Gladstone (loud cheers,) After '75 the war party again got into power and Disraeli sent the British fleet up the Dardenells, and filled the island of Malta with Indian troops and at the same time that he was making this demonstration he signed two secret treaties with Russia and Turkey, by which Russia gained everything she lost by the Crimean War, and out of this sprang "the troubles of which so much bad been heard in Bulgaria, He argued that it was because of this Russian difficulty with England that New Zealand was called upon to erect batteries, got torpedo boats, and contribute towards the colonial fleet All Europe was groaning under tho weight of enormous military powers and their peoples,. would naturally turn their faces towards the shores of tho great democracy. The British Government still wanted to increase the colonial responsibility, by creating the Governor, Lord High Commissioner of the South Pacific, he thought this would menu larger salaries and increased expenditure and would hopo it was not true. He could hear in tho distance another Russian scare, and if tho colonies took to bullying countries like Russia, Germany and France, their indebtedness would he increased by millions of pounds. Ho considered the colonies were incurring grave responsibilities by declaring that all the enemies, of England were their enemies as that was what was really meant by tho action of the representatives at the London Conference. Notwithstanding thut Mr Hogg had brought forward a great many arguments in favor of protection, he must tell them he was a Freetrader. (Loud and prolonged Cheers). Ho had been convinced by arguments that he thought conclusive, that ■ the protection of industries was economically wrong and miscliievioua to the machinery of all good Government, He would call attention to England, whose freetrade was worked to indisputable advantage. ■ Latterly, the protectionists had got up an agitation. but the people would not listeu to it, tho very nariio of protection stunk in their nostrils, Sometimes tho name would be "Reciprocity," and then "Fair Trade," but all of no avail. The Conservatives succeeded in getting a commission appointed to consider the question, and although they got men on it who were likely to favor the protection schoine, the conclusion they arrived at was that there was not a tittle of argumeut to justify them in departing from a free trade policy (cheers). He said England had added £110,000,000 to her money in ten years, besides having advanced the sum of £140,000,000 to other countries and her colonies, and he thought that after that there was not much occasion for tho people to trouble thenis<'la*s about distressed England, although it must he admitted that there wero cases of disttess existing there. He considered the working classes of England had progressed in wages, thrift and general prosperity, they were more comfortable, and could get the necessaries of life, cheaper than in any other part of tho world, and wero better off than the working classes of the United States, though wages wore higher thero than in England, Protection meant the bolstering'up of manufactures and industries, Mr Hogg called it" putting them on crutches," and Sir Robert Stout, in a similar strain, referred to such industries as " ricketty infants." When ones manufactures got their crutches they wanted them longer and stronger as they went on, and nothing could induce thorn to throw them away when they once got them, He alluded to the position of Victoria, the largo amount produced annually for gold and wool, its natural position making it the emporium for the Australian colonies. With Now Zealand everything was different, there was no free capital there, and people had to go away for what money they required, and instanced the Wellington and Manawatu railway, and Midland railway, the whole of which was dependent upon English capital. He contrasted tho indebtedness ot New Zealand with Victoria, showing that the former owed double the amount as the latter, in comparison to tho population, and believed that it was the large debt and hoavy interest to pay that kept the colony down, and not its freetrade policy. He thought Victoria had brought her eggs to a bad market, and quoted figures showing that the people wero leaving the protective colony and making their way to the freetrade one. He considered freetrado was a law of nature, and that protection was a violation of it. The latter was a policy that was fatal to the individual as well as lo the national exchange, and the less and easier the friction in exchange the better. There were 2,500,000 people in Australia who required their produce, and, ho said, "for goodness sake let them have it." England could make socks and. boots cheaper than thoy could. (Nol Nol and uproar,) Very well; they need not have the hoots unless they wanted them; he was content to wear colonial boots himself, and had always found thom good enough. Trade was a theory of free exchange, and the easier it could he fnade the better. He thought New Zealand industries could flourish without protection, and instanced the manufacture of agricultural implements 'in the colony, which were considered among the best in the world. • (A voice; "How about clothing factories,)" .

Clothing factories b«?e got 15 per cent, and no doubt will keep it as long as they can, but he considered there was nothing like pluck and indepon-

dence to make a country go, and- drew ft picture of the effect upon two neighbors, Jones and Brown by the adoption of protection- in the produce of their farms. Mr Renall: Suppose Jones paid 6s a day, and Brown only Is 6d forlabor. How would you get over the difficulty 1 (Loud cheers). Brownwonld hateroad to his place, and Jones wOujtfbe stuck up the. bush,.. And ..that , would ...about equalise it< (Loud applause). Referring to Sir Julius Yogel's policy, he' said that by the new. tariff whenajtMii was dressed bn'd-. had eaten his " breukfast/ho was as full of taxes its h sheep was ■ full of ticks; (Laughter). H? said that if returned to the House he could do no other than advocate a freetrade policy, as he considered Projection was &■ great blot upon the demicraoy of other countries.. LANP QUESTION,

With reference to this question he considered it necessary that every effort should lie used to develop the resources of the land, and if the land hud fair play, and the settlers were unfettered, thero would Boon grow up .manufactories in tho colony —not cripples—that would be able to flompete with the boat foreign manufactories. He believed in the country laborer and repudiated the idea that the town man possessed a monopoly of brains, as he considered that the country peoplo had the more vigorous minds as well as mora robust constitutions, He was a believer in Mr Balance's special settlement policy, but could not believe in men grudgingly giving Mr Balance credit for his scheme but he bad no doubt that those grumblers were only afraid that scheme would not be a failure. A great ■ fuss had been made about Mr Ballance spending £GO,OOO in opening; up drown Lands for settlement, yet at the time : these amounts came before the House, thero were double and treblo the amount being voted for defences and . political railways and members took to notice of it. He had no fear but what the sjhemo would boa success, it only requiring finishing. He considered Mr Mance's Acquisition Bill an un- ' wiso ill-considered measure, ono that would destroy tho confidence of the landowner in his freehold. What it', really 'made was confiscation; and ho' hoped they would well consider the malter. He gave Mr Balhuce credit for, , trying to deal with ail evil, which'het: knew was existing down South, where large tracts of laud suitable for small holdings, were used as sheep and cattle . runs. lie (Mr Hawkins) knew of places in the North Island which would.'" be better if covered with similar home- 'v steads instead of being used for sheep and cattle. He thought tho® principle of the Bill was altogether wrong, and would tend to shako all' confidence iu private ■ (freeholds." If. the right was given to step iu and take a 1000 acres now, it would in time work down to 500, then to 250 acres, and ' bye and bye affect the property of the smallest holder of land. He did not believe Mr Ballancef intended lo do anything unjust■ by ; his moasure, b,ut the principle was there, and could be worked to very' bad ends. When he came to the colony [some years ago) he bought land from the Government iu good faith, and he now called upon the meeting as constituent parts of tho colony to uphold its credit and faith, and nob let tho Government interfere with tho title of its freehold property/ He considered the Bill a slur upon their, good faith, and the people should speakout plainly on the question, He alluded to Sir Robett Stout's pre-' sessional speech, aud said that thore ; were two Sir Roberts, one that spoke, and the other that acted. One said? that the State should hold all the .land *nd be the landlord, and the other sold; miles of country at the foot of the'hills'' in the South Island, so that the small' settler could not get any, and also gave two and a half millions of the East and West Coast Railway Company. He characterised his. aoliion as that of the most dishonest, man in tho colony. He' . next. touched ii|ion Sir Robert's charity scheme by which the Wairarapa ■ was tacked on to Wellington and; compelled to support tho city poor, and, destitute, He alluded to oir Robert • Stout's tapering off policy, by which the Government were 'to' reduce the borrowing by £250,000, but when tho time came on for discussion (in the Honso, Sir liobci t was missiiijj, and ho left his friend the Colonial Treasurer to fight it out, and compelled the opposi. tion to borrow the ful{ amouut. But they all kuewSir Robert Stout I (laughter), They knew that with hini- no contempt for thetinselhonorofKriight- * hood was too great, but lie purred when heheardtho sweetiwords' Sir Robert '1 (Laughter), RETRENCHMENT,

With reference to this question lie said that there could be no retrench' meat as long as the present policy was continued, as expenditure was fixed by the policy. If the colony was going to take part in the Imperial policy, in all' the rows of Europe, defence and other debts must increase. He was not an advocate of ostentatious parsimony with the civil service, ,as this would make very little difference to the debt of the colony, He advocated taking the Railways out of the hands of tho' Government and placing them in tho hands of noa-political authorities. Tho people should tell their representative what policy they would have him adopt, if it.was to be Imperialism or reform. He was told that the Bank of New Zealand would not allow Ministers to stop borrowing, and that they held complete sway - over the financial affairs of the., colony. What ho would say to the people of the colony was, throw oil thorny-headed raonster; and if the.':paw-broking Sampson intended to-- draw the poor settler down with jt, by Heaven 1 It would have to die with thom. In this age, every man,' and constituency : wanted economy at. the expense of bis neigfibor. , Sir Robert Stout wanted? economy, and At the same tjme wanted to eatah: lish a Wellington University.He did not say it \/as not. wanted, but it was inopportune when scores of men wire 3 walking about the colony looking for work. He declared that at this time pensions were being paspod in tW

Houso to eleven persons, amounting to £2,200 a year, Reforms wore required in every dopuitracnt, and a change iu the policy was desirable. Ho considered tliat much of the work now done by the Land Board could be performed by the County Councils, and if this were done they would have the proceedings watched, by. the local press. _ msom. . . • " It had "been finely stated that be bed-done wrong'with regard to the • .reduction of the. roadmen's wages in the County Council, but he attributed these reports to persons who had a grudge against him, and wished to set gktlie working class against him. He fflj&tedthat action was taken to reduce salaries of cleric, engineers, and otjier officers of the Council, during his absence from one of the meetings, and he was convinced that it was only just that the wages should be reduced throughout, and took the matter in hand, as lie considered tlwt the wago class nmstjbe affected by the depression, for if the money was not in the hands of the employers, they could not give it to the men. With tlio reduction of .the roadmen's wages, the Council took the whole question in hand, and now the mon were better off than they were under the old state of tilings, as cottages lmd been provided for them,! with convenient plots of ground around them for their use, and he could not but admit that the Council had dealt fairly with the men. Another

charge had also been levelled against him to the effect that whilo he had gbeeii instrumental in reducing the ffCounty workmen's wagos, lie had been most lavishly liberal to the men in his eiwrtoy; this he most emphatically derered. He asked his audience not to listen to the man at the corner, the tattler, and the fireside gossip, and not to bo led by persons of disordered

temperamont, but to act and think for themselves, and to use their own judgment in the selection of their representative. In conclusion, he said the land was full of natural wealth and rare beauties. Nature was not so lavish as to allow the people to be idle, nor so stem as to discourage them from labor. Her voice sounds from thegrassy plains and rippling streams, its distant echo answers from the sun lit peak and says," Ido not oiler you inordinate wealili, nor corrupting luxury, I offer you honor and peace; I toll you to tune your heart unto harmony with me, that pure as my snows you may learn from me the true joy of human life, and in the knowledge of the nllwise in the gentle life of Christ the groat secret of a happiness that never lkdes,"andtliatifhe became tMr representative thev were not to too much of him, but to cover his small failings with (lie mantle of their abundant charity.

Mr Hawkins resumed his seat amid loud and prolonged applause, having Spoken for two hours. In answer to the Chairman's invitation, Sir Renall asked Mr Hawkins, if Jones was in the mud and could not get to market, out of what fund would he make the road ? (loud laughter,) Mr Hawkins said it was too much for him to enter into a discussion on Freetrade, after speaking so. long as ho had done. He was not prepared for the question, and could not answer it at present,

Mr Rcnall: I will move a vote of thanks, Mr Chairman, to Mr Hawkins for his able and eloquent speech, and I shall be quite in order by criticising the address from beginning to end. (uproar.)

T. A. Lyons objected to Mr R/a|l monopolising the meeting, and i J|i Mr Hawkins would lie he in favor Mfjjducing the expenditure of the .. filature, and the number ofniembei.y?

Mr Hawkins considered tlmt the name of " Honorablo" was quite sufficient remuneration for members of tho Legislative Council, and that he was always in favor of economy at other people's expense. Mr Lyons: Would you be in favor of curtailing State Education at the Fourth Standard ? (Yells, and cries of No! No.) Mr Hawkins said ho would not be In favor of tampering with the State Education as at present conducted, (Cheers). .. Mr Hawkins said he had had the following questions placed in his handslst -: Would you support the passage of a Bill through Parliament, prohibiting tho manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors ? Mr Hawkins: I have always urged the Temperance party to influence public opinion in favor of their viows; thaj&Ley had no engine so powerful 0,3 pljpc opinion, and when once tlioy liavo convinced public opinion that prohibition is a necessary, wise, and just measure, I will vote for it, 2nd, Would you support the extension of the franchise to fomales ? Mr Hawkins: This is far too grave a question to be lightly discussed, I can easily conceive a variety of questions;, tho aspects of which would be materially changed if women had a vote. It has seemed hitherto a ques- ■ iioii beyond the range of practical politics, but the second reading of the Bill in the present session has altered its position altogether, and I am inclined, without absolutely binding myself on the present occasion, to support tho proposal. (Cheers from the dress circle,) Mr Renflll said it looked vory much as though Mr Hawkins was cornered, and wanted to get out of the question of Ereetrade. He entered into tho ' with some spirit, stating that th*olony imported woollen things &0m England, while not one of the woollen factories of New Zealand had yet paid a dividend. Mr Lyons: Yes they have. The "Yf Mosgiel Company have paid 12* per cent-time after time, •'i: Mr Renall: Tlmt Company was started by aij old friend of mine, and tho present Company does not vepre-. sent anything near the money that has bppn ppejik upon it. lie then

Wfiit into the position of England and the colonies and advocated a policy of $ protection in New Zealand to build up $ its manufactures. • ' Mr.B,- E. Meredith, in seconding the vote of thanks said it was only by getting the opinion of each candidate that the eleotors could find out those who werfl most fitting to represent

them, and thought Mr Hawkins was entitled to a voto of thanks for his eloquent and able address. The motion was then put and carried unanimously, and a vote of thanks to the Chairman, moved by Mr Hawkins, concluded the meeting.