MAURICEVILLE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2657, 26 July 1887, Page 2

MAURICEVILLE.

:(-Fxbm-aLv'Occasipnal ■ Correspondent,)

Mr Hawkins addressed the doctors, of Mauricevillo in' tlio schoolroom'on Saturday liitit at 7.30 p.ra., and delivered ■au interesting lecture: which, occupied an hour and a'half. There was ut good attendance, and Mr JesSen junr, toOk the chair. Mr Hawkins objectec 1 ' to , Protection, and quoted sltdi&tics to show that England with her present. Freo.Trade .policy -.vas much more prosperous now than before 1841, and that while America, with almost unlimited territory and an • population, exports •■• £4,000,000 worth . annually, England, with a limited territory and population, exports more than thirty times as Trade policy.benefits-many, countries, a Protection'policy only one, The candidate hero read extracts from'a book to show that' even in Eugland during her' Protection' policy, pauper- . ism increased and railway returns were' a niinimunij whilst under Free Trade tho reverse was the case, Manufactures must necessarily be limited. inNew Zealand, where tho population does not. exceed 600:000; and the basket industry in Mastei'ton.did not fail from any want of energy or' ability on .tfcere was no demand for tho article, the part of Mr Arnold but simply because The Government of New Zealand had added to taxation while-the customs revenue had fallen of by £20,000.' Therefore, electors should return men who would put a stop to extravagance in every department, who would persistingly oppose corruption in members

of the Government, and look to-the i general prosperity of the country. That -the Railway Department should bo entirely removed from political pressure, was abundantly proved bycomparingthe working.of the State Railways''with tl](i:M;iilwitlliiiig; The same inigliUie' said of .(i'overnineht works gchetafly, where mon never knewliovir long they, were to lie employed, where whimsical reductibiis-'Wero :coiiituon, and.mutual good faitli was a'rarity.- Mr Hawkins suggested the formation of co-operative associations for the manufacture of "bush"'butter and cheese at Mauricevilleins a means oi enhancing the ..value of dairy produce - and improving the condition of settlers, He also suggested 'fas-i\u-. idea of his own) that :roads should hot bo metalled when fir'sl,ma(!e, but that light tram lines should belaid down, and worked by horse power. - At the conclusion of the lecture Mr Hawkins replied to six questions put' by some ot'tbo audience (1) On the subject of education he wished to be reserved until he spoke in Masterton. For the present ho would compare the .system to a very beautiful but rather complicated piece of mechanism which, he thought ought to be .handled cautiously, . He might liken ;it'to a watch-which could hardly suffer "llie'lossofa single'wheel, cog or pinion without injury to the whole. (2) He ■was not'.sKposL'd to do away with the tipper.House, nor(3.) to reduce mem-: hers'salaries,b.ut ho thought £IOO a; year enough for jiieinb«r<i of the Legis--lat-ive. Council (4) 'Railways in course of' .constritctiou'm'ust be;couiplelcd, (5) Mr, • Ballancii's; Village Settlement scheme', had somo'comniendajilo features, but it.' was neither comprehensive enough nor put forward in.a statesmanlike way. Ordinary people could not understand how it took sixty .thousand pounds to settle due''hundred'and uiuety four families. The sections should be of various.sizeß.-some 600 or 700 acres, and not all 20 or 30 acres, so that the owner of a small section might benefit by working on a largo one. Before the meeting broke -up votes ot thanks were accorded to tliocandtdateand the chairman,