MR HOGG AT MAURICEVILLE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2663, 2 August 1887, Page 2

MR HOGG AT MAURICEVILLE.

Mr Hfyj/i addressed the. electors. - ' Mauriceyille in the schoolroom qn.l&Jijjjfc day last,.at 8 p.m. There wis-. « {lff! attendance, including two ladies, and'Mr Gundersen took the chair. Mr Hogg stated that lie addressed the .electors of the Forty Mile Bush for.the first time, and that no personal ambit'ion-qr anxiety for distinction, but simply pressure' from outside had induced him to seel: their, suffrages, A wry strong feeling hjujgflt abroad that, the constituency wM properly represented, and .';ib MrTfllc--Cardie, preferred another. districts the electors of Musterton had convinced,! Mr Hot'g tliafc duty compelled him to.b.ocome Mr McCardlo's substitute. He'avowed himself a radical, and as such rccommen- ■ ded himself to the Scandinavians. The cause of the present commercial depression, which so much nflffct-3. all.- classes, was ascribed to the aeon nidation'of : debt and the want of capital,. The man who could clmngn all this would deserve the everlasting gratitude of the country. Mr Hogg did not. consider bimselt able to solve the problem single banded ; but he was willing to lend a helpiuglhand, and - to support those who wished Ah Bupport the country Retrenchment was nccep' i sa'ry. but the pruning knife must be wsiW judiciously ; otherwise, instead of solvinjf the problem the evil would be intensified. Sir John Hail and Lis party would effect retrenchment, not by reducing tho Governor's salary, or tits salaries'-<if .personal friends, not by putting dishonestly obtained money into honest-pod-els, but at the expense of the thrifty settlers ol New Zealand. -Tho '. present Ministry impose taxes so as to ■benefit ■ the .iwiiimiiiity; lint" Major Atkinson and his party would doub'e tho taxes-onthe neceesarries of life- to raise the Customs revenue from £300,000 to £OOO,OOO. They would even tilt, and reduce- tho working-mou umkw Zealand to tho condition of the Sepoys of India. They wpr'c opposed to Protective duty, and to. secure low .wages for the working man, they' would 'oppose all .protective legislation.'.. But Mr Hogg's party believed in high, wages, and especially in .the efficacy of the. wages fund, which distributed wealth through a country,.as the clouds of iloaycn .tribute -the fertilizing . moisture which irrigates, the. earth, and .produces viinfvJ abundant harvest. ' With high wages', a stream .of emigration would set iii toward New.Zoaland', - not the kind of emigration . pruducedty- lying• agents at Homc>.; s *lJut a stream of -emigration, acconipauied.;.! y the capital necessary to build. toTsiV, .to establish manufacture.?, to ompfovjihpi', ■and to develop our almost inexhaustible resources in minoraln, As the tect-ioniit'stimulalos industries in.dep'pnd•ent of taxation,- Mr Hogg' would, fore, 'only tax what we mutt .importj/pd ' cannot actually produce ourselves.-When-'' . the Colony could produce ' thc;"iaw material a tax should be'impos«i : "dj|jio manufactured article, and' in'thisPfay,.- '/ ■millions'. might be saved by. ..rejecting "'- 'imported. ' trash.' Tho. Propeity In ■ pressed heavily on Hie community. 'lt wis' the natural enemy of improvements; for, being levied in direct proportion' to, tlio value of property, it cramped the energies of the industrious settler, and by depriving 'him of it nc-cessavy .stimulus.?to ■economy and thrift, it- prevented Kim from a'ddinl' to the wealth of I be country ; and ■yet-to euro this evil, Major Atkinson's' parly waild retain the obnoxious features ■ot ■ the Projierty Tax, and tiveep away exemptioi.s, so that all w,.,u'M be compelled to contribute alike. : ; ,'t'hey would reduce the Education vote, intnduce a . Pol! Tax, and grind tha wirting-man I into tho dust. On such a-party, men * who were the enemieabf their species, 11 r. li.ogg would turn the tables by introducing a tax..that would prevent .them from going to. London to squander fortunes amassed by purchasing land from the Natives at ut, merely nominal pi ice. In answer to various questions, Mr Hogg - said' he approved of Mr Ballance's special [settlement 'scheme, and that lie would presemv'the present system of primary. ..education in all its integrity. He <«Rd abolish tho Upper House, and-prevent ■tho land from falling to the man with the biggest pm.H\ lie would give thefranchise to females, and advocate the winstruction of good lwlsin all such settlements as Mamiceville. On thosubjec of grants to Catholic schools, Mr Hogg referred to his speech in Mafitetton, •and doprecatodtheintroductionofreligioiii'iiito politics. He identified himself with' no religious party, nor would he subscribe a shilling to any religious fund to secure a ■seat in Parliament. Every candidato, however, could' not boast of 'tho same integrity ; for to Mr Hogg's owii-taow-ledge a gentleman, highly estcenVcd. and well-known to tho electors of. Mauricevillo had actually givon Father'Ta'eacy ten pounds towards the erection of a * church or echnolhoure.-- .Votps'cf thanks having li(H-n accor.'cd,to. the lecturer and Chairman, tho proceedings terminated.