MASTERTON ELECTION.

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

MASTERTON ELECTION.

MR G, BEETHAM AT TINUI. - Mr G. Beetham addressed about 100 electors in the Town Hall on Saturday evening; July 23rd. Mr R. Maunsell, who presided, briefly stated the object of the" meeting, and asked a patient hearing for Mr Beetham. Mr Beetham said he was pleased to see so many ladies present; it deupted that, they were taking an interest in political questions, andhealso thought it-tended to the observance of order at publh meetings. He might explain that he was in a difforenfc position from othor candidates who would address them, as ho had togive an account of his past conduct, as wnll as give them his views for the future. He promised that when returned to Pai^

iamenfc on the last occasion that would give no factious opposition to thHT Government; and he had, so far as. he*' could judge, carried out that pledge, But on somo questions he had considered it his duty to voto against soiueof their proposals. People thought that upon the advent of Sir Julius Vogelto power there would be a wonderful start, and the colony would advance by leaps and' ' bounds, 'The result, however, was disappointing, a borrowing policy being tho.. only outcome, and the Colony was landed • in difficulties. In the session' of 1884 -' Sir Julius Vogel-brought down a schemo which, it carried oin\" would have em- ' powered Local Bodies to borrow to the' extent of £7,000,(100. He had opposed ' this, as'there'rhustbea'linrit to -borrowing. _ Another objection was that a large ]' 'portion of this money would have been expended on tho goldfields,' and as"'V the population in. theso places was \ not a permanent one, a great deal of money would have been wasted. He had opposed tho Stout Government on the Hospital-and'Charitable Aid Bill, for undent tho country districts were being victimised. Iu tho Wairarapa counties a, largo sum would have to be found by tho '-'■ ■wtepayon. It wis manifestly unfair MM the country Bottlers who had manv culties to contend with should bo laxed™ heavily, to maintain the Wellington poor. During tho recont session he gave notice' ' to repeat thjs Act, and if returned again should do,his utmost 16 have aich a measuro ' passed as would give them the; control of their own poor, and the expenditure of money raised for. the'.purpose... Sir Robert Stout, characterised this opposition -as selfish, and that the'country settlers were against bearing their'ji.st burdens, 'lt must be ' borne'in iriiiui that" the country 'eetllers contributed rcry largely, in 'as'much as."., they had to feed a number of, tho travel- '"' ling papulation,, If this was taken" into account it; would ' be -found : that the : - count p y residents contributed moro -than thoso n towns. He opposed tho Customs-;--Duti* 3 Kill as it appeared to him that it": .woul press heavily on the working classes'- " .The -.pposition had opposed the construe--tion. of the Midland Railway by tho'--colony as it was considered, that it would not-pay for many years, while 'if would have created a charge of £95,00,0 against the revenue. "It could not par the present syndicate even with the grant of 250,000 ,' acres of land. Bo assisted in passing the Roads and Bridges Construction Act, under which money was borrowed largely in that County for' rolls. This Act had its defects, notably tho short iimo repayment of the loans. A Bill calluf* the Local Bodies Loans Act was'; .brought' down by the fcitout-Vogel Government, which re-minded nomo ot the effects; .of the . othor measure, and ho had voted' with thorn on: that occasion. Tho present. Government- did not -deserve all the credit for this Act, as it was framed mainly on.the lines of the Roadß and -Bridges Coiistuction A:fc. : Taxation, was pressing heavily on tho people. He felt that a considerable portion of the Property: Tax should be- returned to the country districts for the construction-of Rods,' and other public works. Be would always endeavor to obtain subsidies for the Local Bcdies. Tho British Parliament recog- •' nised .this principle, and returned a . portionof : the income and other taxes,'-Ho-objected' to Mr Balknce's Land Aqu.isition Bill: People left the Old ' Country to obtain freeholds. (Hear! . hear,) He maintained that the feeling of the English peoplo was to have free" holds: (Appliuse.) The principal of Mr ■ Ballance's Bill wan that an Association'of . 'person's, could ask for any individual's J laud;to.be set aside, upon an Association v? finding 25 per cent, Arrauuemerits were ' then made with the owner, and the land ■ was hkon at the Propeity Tax valuation. He:,felt it was very hard that a man after years of patent toil and industry, should ' have liis land, taken .'from him .thus;' :(Loiid -Applause.). Tho mere mention of . such' a measure had prevented capital from coming into the CVlony. .English ' capit-ilitts. were shy o! investing their money, when there was a probability 0 f ths'frcehold.titje that .was. afc one time thought to be indefeasible,- being assailed.' At the present juncture this was most unfortunate, the Colony was in a most impecunious state, and. every effort should bo made to induce men with capital to come to settle, among us. Such a measure as the Land Aquisitiou Bill would not bring this about especially when countries like America were giving grants of land with a good title for nothing. (Applause). lie considered it'.his duty to oppose Mr Ballance'3 proposal to . the utmost, and he should continue to do . so, and he considered it inimical, to the progress of the Colony. (Applause). Capital was the principal want, and when " in England lie tried to form a Company 'J for the purpose of importing money so/ that settlers could obtain it at a lower'-' rato of interest than that ruling in the Colony, mie of tho candidates taxed him with this, as if ho had done come. fearful thing. It so happened that it ivas necessary to purchase out a persons interest in some land, who was to act as Manager 'and that was all the company had to do with land transactions. Mr Cockburn Hoo;l: Who was tho candidate? Mi-Beetham ;'Mr Hogg, He considered it his' duty to opposo-:the Native Land Bill brought down .bv the .Stout' Government. It waa not iu the interests'' -of both races, the natives objected to place their land untior Go.-ernmont cqn-- '• trol This bill had become law, but not ' ..a sjnglo transaction had taken place under its..provisions. If returned to.' Parlia- ' ment he .would endeavor to have this act lopealed • All Governments were. fond.tf talking about economy, hut., when,-once, iu-powef little more was thought about it, ■ .\ The present Government: bad'rendered the Colony liable for the District-Rail-.ways, fle might explain that these rail- • .ways had been constructed on the distinct understanding that the- lands .through ' which, they, passed should bear tho cost, ' the Government liability being two • per t cent. People who bought properties in the vicinity of "these railways were .deceived as to I lie liabilities on the land, and when they., found out. their error brought.pressure tefbear on tho Atkinson ■ Government to take over the lines. This was resisted. Mr Hogg had taxed him with not having placed this matter fairly before the electors, and that it was the Atkinson Government who initiated the District Railways Bill This was true'; but it waa Sir Julius Vogel who introduced the District Kailways Purchase Bill, giving Powor to the Government to pay the total cost ot these railway, and tho present Government made use of this power in-a most injudicious way. (Applause,) When these .railways were con- • Istructed iron was of much higher value; and tho Opposition carried an amendment that only the admlmht at the time of pwclmw should be paid. By this £9OOO was struck off one railway. The Waimate railway, eight miles in lcni'th'-, c05t£33,200, and had never paid;, in fact tho loss hud been 16s 8d per cent on it. Tho present Government, however, took advantage of a thin House/- recommitted the clause, and itwascarried, and the Colony has to- pay £33,200 for this line. You here havo all to pay your share of this, We in the North Island want roads, and should not be made to bear Buch burdens as this. He believed Major Atkinson and several other Opposition membors voted for this. But he did not; on every occasion he opposed it. It would be quite as just that the loan for metalling the Mungapakeha

should be taken over by the Colony. p» aUße ') Jir Ballance deserves credit ffJMEs good intontioiiß to settle people on the land. But ho attempted to tnko more credit than was due to him when •he asserts tlwt he was the initiator,of the Libera; Land Laws. The clauses relating to Special Settlements were passed some years ago, but Mr Rolleston hesitated to bring them into force. Ono of the weak points in tho system was that the special settlers have to ballot for the allotments. This losulted in oue individual perhaps getting a piece of land quite unsuitable to his requirements, borne of the Village Settlements would bo successful, some would not". It was essential that only good land' should bo taken up by tho small holders. Ho agreed with Sir George Grey that it was cruel to bind men to the land, that they become serfs, jygiust be borne in mind that under tho T§pgo Settlement system settlers were cclmpellcd to stay on thoir land. Tho pesses3ion of a Village Settlement prevented a man from acquiring more. He believed in letting people do what they wished with their own freehold. (Applausi') The present regulations prevented an individual from transferring hia interest unlets he left the district, Ho had been «S? 1S in the colony, and must claim to W'o some experience of land, and always considered it his duty to warn pecple of the difficulties tlioy would have to encounter. He voted for the expenditure of £SOOO on (he Village Settlement experiment, but could not uphold tho action if Mr Ballanco in expending £7o,ooounauthorised by iv>!;atnent. It was every oihj'd interest to cuttle people on the laud, and that the Hinting population (should obtain homes. Ho was sorry to see mon settled, howover, on tho poor gum land north of Auckland, and feared such settlements'''would prove a loss to the colony. Mr IL.gg had stated ho (Mr Beetham) used hia influence to fbtain sonin 50C0 acres ol land at Puket*jW friends of Lis. The land alluded tiaras' not near the Puketoi, and the action he took in the matter was to assist Messrs Fabian Bros, to obtain it, but after taking a great amount of troublo they declined to purchase somu months before it was put lip to auction. Eventually the land after being advertised in the usual way, was Gold by auction in Masterton, and his brothers purchased it, Why should they not do so. (Loud applause.) T']<e Government, were making Protection a test point of the elec'ion. He believed it was against tho interests of consumers and the working classes to have high protective duties. . .He Knot in favor of interfering with

primaryfclucation, it wastheir duty togivo the children of the people a free education. But in tho case of secondary education it should bo made "soli-supporting. Scholarships should be provided, so that a child showing spocial excellence should have an opportunity or" advancing to the highest position, 'it often was tho case that the boat brains wore found in the poorest- men's children. (Applause). Ifco endowments '.for education wo Vsßfoin Canterbury and Otago during the Provincial days, and he was of opinion that these should now be made the common property of tlu whole colony, and not the hdiitage of one or two particular localities. He would never be a party

to anything that would injure the education system. Ho agreed with Mr Bunny that there was too much cram, and children wore too much forced. He believed some retrenchment was possible without impairing the efficiency of the system. He supported a Property Tax iu preference to a Land Tax, as it taxed thu inertijngee instead of the nominal owner. He had abjgfci advocated a read policy as againsfflElwayts, but in the. rase of the extension from Masterton to. Ekctehuna,' if he had not voted for it, tho money would h,ve been lost to the district altogether. It could not...'have been diverted for road purposes. He must

briefly allude to llnj wages questi'.'n. Mr Hawkins had accused him of making use of this. He had denied in Masterton that ha had circulated any report rtiltuiiuq mi 5k Hawkins' conduct in the County Council. Yet after thisdenial Mr Hwkins had re-iterated tho statement at Opaki, and apparently did nut credit him (Mr Boetham) with speaking tho truth, He tnuafc again deny that he kd circulate! any reports on the W3p question. Mr Hawkins no doubt, thought, undoing his duty in voting as he. did. Mr R. Meredith: you are creating a false imprcdon, you are conveying the impression that Mr Hawkins was present when tho wages were reduced when as a

matter of fact he was not, Ho Mr .Meredith had an extract from the County minutes to prove this. Mr Botham said so had hi-. (Loud applause^ Mr BflKrm in reply said he w;s quite awaro ofThe facts that Mr Hawkins was not presont at the Commute meeting when the recommendation to reduce tho wages was suggested or at the mooting that confirmed the recommendation. Inferring to the copy of tho minutes, ho read, that Mr Maekay moved.a resolution to rescind tho action of the Council which was supported by Cr McCardle, tho other members voting against it, Mr Hawkins being one of the members. Mr Hawkins by that.vote identified himsolf with tho wages question. Mr Hawkins had also tried to make this matter reflect on him (Mr Beetham) by saying hia brother voted for the reduction. But so ar went, Mr Hawkins and his broker were on much the name footing,

ono being absent on the. first occasion, and one on the latter. Mr R. Meredith said that, when Mr Mackay brought forward the resolution )o rescind the previous action, of the Council he did to on tho ground that an injustice was being done,, as come of the men were provided "-with '.houses rent free, while some paid rent, and the wore the sairio for nil. Mr Hawkins lidiculed the differential ratejad advocated all road men being terms'. The. motion to rescind was lust. Mr Hawkins moved a resolution to tho effect that'all roadmen should have a ctltage and land rent free Mr T, Mackay e.tid ho must contradict this statement. Mr Hawkins did not move such a resolution, he 1 (Mr Mackay) moved it. (Loud applause.) Mrßeetham then read the minutes, ptovmg the conectnesa of Mr Mackay's statement. (Renewed applause,) Mr ft Meredith : Well, the resolution was curried unanimously, was it not ? Mr Mackay: Yes. Mr Beetham said lie was very sorry for this digression, but he was not going from speaking his mind, wfiafesailed unjustly by Mr Hawkins orasy other candidate. (Applause.) He sttood in his own footing, and if lie had done wrong during the ten years of Bervico devoted to his constituents and tho Colony, ii was for tho electors to visit it on bim. If thoy still thought him worthy of their confidence to voto for him

irrespective of iho wages question, {Applause), Mr Pidgeon : There is a motion afloat to import Kaffirs to shear. Will you do your utmost to etop thifl, and will you do your bestaract a law passed to prevent them coirimg into tlio countryj . | [Mr Beetham: 1 think wo have quite enough working men now in the country. He was not m favor of Kaffir labor, and would do his best to stop them being brought into the country. (Loud applause).' Mr Pidgoon: Are you in favor of a progressive tax on improved property in

the country, bo that men shall bo lot off who cxpond tlieir capital, Mr Beetham: The question w a very j difficult one to answer. A progressive land tax would prevent capital from coining into tho colony. He was not tho representative of any one class, but from a working man's* point otview he thought there woul« not bo much gam from such a tax. Any tax that would prevent the influx of capital would be'fatal to the interest of the working man. He was iu favor of taxing absentees. Mr Pidjcean :-Aro'you in favor of .stopping the importation of deliterious spirits, It is a vital question for ub working men. It affects our brains, and it is oiily rifht that the brains of the people should be protected. (Laughter). The same restrictions should be placed on drinkaaon feed as regards ad ultotation. (Laughter.) • Mr Beetham: Do you mean that all lipirits should be examined, Mr Pidgenn: Yes. Mr Br etham ; There is a law against the sale of adulterated liquor, and it can be put into force. Mr ft. Meredith: What Government are you supporting ? Mi Beetham said lie was not a supporter of the present Stout-Vogel administration. Mr Motedith: la it a fact that you are Exporting Mr McCardle for tho Woodville seat, and ho supporting youjor Masterton. Mr Bvotham : There is no compact whatever botweou us. Mr Wjngato proposed,.and Mr Niohols seconded a vote of thanks toMr Beetham which was carried by acclamation. A vote of thanks to tho Chairman concluded the meeting.