MR BUNNY AT CARTERTON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3653, 4 November 1890, Page 2

MR BUNNY AT CARTERTON.

About one hundred and fifty electors were in the Lycouro Hall, Carterton, last night when Mr Henry Bunny entered tho room just before eight o'clock, and shortly after wards tho audience increased in numbers until jtwas almost, if not quite, as largo as the one tfljck lit|d assembled a weelc previous to boar Mr Buchanan's viows.

The Mayor of Carterton, Mr R. Falrbroiher, occupied the chair, and asked for a quiet hearing for the speaker. Mr Bunny opened his address by saying that he had come forward onco more to ask their /support at the coming election, At the last poll it had not been his intention tq gtqnd agaip, H W things gono as they should, or had any man offered himself . who had his (the speaker's views,'-he would not have done so, but seeing that the time hud come when taxation and other cause (which Mr Bunny detailed) rendered a change absolutely and immediately necessary, he felt justified in the wisdom of the step he was now taking. Mr Bunny then alluded to a recent article in the Wamabapa Daily, a journal which he said he did not take, but which lie had remarked was occasionally sent to him. Jfe affected ill difference jsr tjio newspaper in question, several times in his speech, but inconsistently, and moreover still found it necessary to quote and attempt to rebut the stateniepti inadp in, the Wajrabapa Dailylji.wfafenoe jlo his. sujtabllity as a Parliamentary candidate for the representation of tho Wairarapaj. The "Daily," Mrßunsysaid, had stated that he was not sufficiently bucolic (" did not know enough about bullocks," he supposed that meant I—tylgh'fprMbflt ho was, too muc'h tpr tho city and not enough for the Wairarapa, as if (sarcastically) there could bo anything antagonistic i l the interests of Wellington with |ia 30,000 inhabitants, and the whole bf.the 1 Wairarapa North arid Sputh wii|- %'iy" atwiit ]2j,o()p. ' As if, indeed,'there was anything against a man representing not only the district whicli retained' hjm, put' the' city beyphfj that, ;an(|''tho colony'rJeyond that stjll."(App|ause]) hi the last fifteen years Masterton had had two great "budolica." What had they done? It had been said t|iat ip tbe past-fio ||sd bajj.too many.roads and bridges c,onstriipted,.b!}t'if he had not done it sop ppe else would, and tbey bad al| reaped the benefit, They should 'fuel obliged to a man who would come forward to.'change, the

views of the electors rather than have to be dependant upon ono man. Tho incidence of taxation end dealing with Crowa Lands would he the main question to ho discussed hy him that nvening. Fust, he proposed to abolish the Customs duties upon everything oxcept wines, spirits, mid tobacco. He hoped tho day would cope when it would be freetrade all round in, New Zealand, Ho also contemplated h repeal, in. the Property tax. In the place of these two he would institute a laud tw and an income tax, A. land tax of one per cent upon the unimproved value of the land in the colony wonld produce close upon a -million of money. The income tax wonld raise tho-balance of their requirements, The masses of thn people should be relieved from the burden of the customs duties, and the wealth of the country should bo made to hear its share. At present, including the indirect taxation of th« Customs duties, a quarter of a man's | income went iu taxation. Could not a man with LI,OOOO per ''annum! better spare L 250 of that sum, than a working man who had only LIOO a 'could part with L 25. Land should pay its fair share, The merchant too made sommhing out of the yeiy customs duties themselves, -Ho added his per centage of profits - not only' to the cost of: the article, but upon.the duty too,- and the people who ultimately bought the goodj.h<rJ 50 pay. As little as possible 'should be'taken; from the>niasßes beyond what goos struigiitinto tho colonial - chest; : ; - :

•What objection could there be-to a land tax? Land wa3 tho foundation of nil wealth. '"By railways and public works w© had wonderfully increased the .values! of properties, Those originally worth shillings are now. worth pounds per acre, It is-only fair that the owners should contribute proportionally "in taxation, as a return for these improvements. The large landowners and stookowners too, were reaping a large benefit from tho frozen meat business, aud recently tho people here had to pay from .one penny to ljd more for their meat, owing to the butchers raising their prices through tho increased export trade, Why should we havo to pay this when these men do not help us to bear our burden 1 (applause.) "The black Tariff" was brought down and not a movo was made against it by tho wealthy section. Farliamen would not stick out lor fair play and say no. That articlo in tho Wairahafa Dailywss evidently still rankling in his manly bosom, for Mr Bunny here mado a diversion and proclaimed that tho only antagonism between town and country was in Charitable Aid, and that was merely the fault of the Act, .Country members far exceeded town members in number, and they should hafe been that wo were relieved, of tho oppression in this direction.

Lots of people, Mr Bunny went on to say, who wore in the colony contributed to. taxation only indirectly through tho customs duties, Take for instance lawyers, doctors, bankers, and civil servants, Theso could bo got at by the Income Tax, and the individua in question would not have to pat more than they did now through th Customs, for only a moderate tax was required to make up what was wanted, Absentees he would make pay iovhk (impassioned emphasis of the word by the speaker, and frantic applause, by the audience.) Their properties had been improved at the expense of the public, and it was justifiable, The Property Tax was upon improvements, He believed in taxing only the unimproved value of land. As long as the wealthy party was in the majority in the House, so long would that section of the community escape. He would harrow money to" construct roads and bridges so as to open up Crown Lands. Now we sell land, and the buyers cannot get at it, and having no access cannot fulfil the conditions of their occupation. When he was Provincial Secretary Borne years ago he drew up an estimate for providing the whole province with this accommodation »nd £IBO>QOO would havo covered the lot. Its absence was a great loss,

He would have tho land cut up in from one hundred to two and three hundred acre lots, and would prevent any one man from securing an unduly large quantity,' He would then put it up by auction under tho perpetual lease and deferred payment system. At present bona fide men were handi" capped by speculators. The Bpeaker here eulogised the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company's system of disposing of the land they had acquired from the Government, and which, he said bad led to the establishment of settlements in every direotion by working men, end in which there ha I not been a single failure in the payment of interest by the settlers who had taken it up. We would do wise, Mr Bunny went on to say, if wo followed the same plan upon the lines he had previously indicated, There, una no better plan than this (applause),

The Revaluation of Lands Ac passed last session was the most mischieycjijs Apt ever passed By it, any persons who had boughs land previous to 1889 could. send in claims to have it re-valued; Claims came in right and left. But for him, in one instance, land bought in the; Forty Mile Bush at £5 per acre would have'been reduced, to |3 per aore, Tbe people of New Zealand would, by this Act, hare to pay back the difference between the valuations, and it would cost them £IOO,OOO. Apart from this they would have tbe intermediate pcopla growling and saying "Why we would have taken the land at rnore money had we known I" Yet these men bought the land with their eyes open, True, it was in wild speculation, but to let them think they could keep to the bargain if it were all right and get out out of it if it wero, alimony was demoral|BJng in the extreme, Under that system we would never know when we had really sold our land. Buyers should be made to understand that when tbey go into the auction room and buy laud they bavo to keep their engagements, His persistent refusal to carry put the provisions of this Act had let) to "tho rptlrepil of both Mr McCardje and himself from the Waste Lands- Board, and he considered his acjion bad saved the Colony many thousands of pounds. The '.' Evening Post," he was glad to say, bad support*(t>him, feeling that lie had the iplefivsts o'fUjie country aj» heart, and tbey bud been forced to reappoint bi(|i op the Waste Lands Board!

As matters now stood he would do away with the Waste Lands Bsard altogether. They >ycre onjy buffers between the people and the (joyem. nient. They were appoinfed by the latter, tjie. Cprnpissioper of. Drop Lands' .ifpas- Chairman, and if tijeir ■ views did not suit, they, were amply I kicked out—got rid of, He would I take the wasto lands entirely out of

the control of ihe Goveruiuentj ifiii would appoint outside and independent Oonamissidners. : ; They, wbiild prepare yearly estimates of roids 'mi bridgfls and report periodically to the . Government. ' •"•V - He would like to see tho Native i Department entirely abolished. Tbove i [would always be. trouble--while it ] Listed, .He let the Maoris sell i °nly when :they liked,' and then i solely to Government, bo as to avoid their being got at by large speculators. - Mr Bunny then proceeded' to give ; various reasons why he should have the sympathies and votes of .the , electors. He also ran through his qualifications, making a strong point of bis experience. If men we're ' returned with his views, be remarked, matters would soon be altered, and the burden would be put on the right horse,- Thefact of liis feeling the weight of taxation rendered him, of all others, anxious to' remedy the evil. He felt the pinch of the shoo. They needed someone who understood the run of the ropes—a man who would look after the interests of the country,and see beyond his ownnose. Tho individual who.would get a railway siding put in, or an alteration in the railway tariff for a constituent, an important: measure, was not the man for them. If thpy desired.someone who; would., share.': their burden ami secure fair play all round then they should rote for him. It. had fieen said that thero wns a " dark horso" in some stable Let them bring liinv out,' and it' ho had Ma views, and wiis a better man than he . (Mr Bunny)', lie would retire, for ha was not going to have the votes split and let the third raiin' get in. 1! necessary he would ride that dark horse, aud ride him to win, (applause, ■ laughter, and cheers), If, however, they were equal men in.ability with corresponding views, they would have ■' no difficulty in deciding which should 1 withdraw.. Thoy need not think Uißy 1 were going to intimidate him. He had 1 had letters and had threats, He wasnot going to let Mr Buchanan in ou 1 the third man chance,

He (Mr Bunny) had no money to spend, If thoy voted for him they would vote for his principles and not for what he could throw broadcast among them (applause from the front, nei?hing, moans and cries from the rear of the audience). He had no committeo, but he had his friends, He could not advertise his "committee would meet next Tuesday nighl" and that kind of thing, nor did he go in for the hand-shaking dodge (merrimeut and applause;, If they took him they had him as he was, and if elected he would do his best for them, and for the country genorally, During his'speech Mr Bunny adopted the fervent and impassioned style of oratory and appealed to his audience by the vigour oE his declamation and sometimes by a touch of humour of the kind calculated to favourably impress them, For instance, his reference to " somo place over there (careless wave of hand to indicate locality) Tupurupnru he thought they called it," immensely pleased a section of the audience, and when in reply fb a question on tho rabbit difficulty he rejoined pathetically 'wouldit belikely a Bunny would npprove oi stoats and weasels?" the delight was unlimited. He further added "There are stoatß aud weasels outside the animal world whom we all know, who are doing their best to get rid of the Bunny, but they couldn't manage it quite.! 1 ' Mr Bunny seemed very proud of the Evening Post's advocacy of hira, He repeatedly alludsd to that paper —"the leaidng journal of New Zealand' 1 he termed it, . A number of questions were asked at the conclusion of the address, and beyond a little boisterous fun there was no objectionable behaviour, We sumniarisesome of the questions and answers:

Mr Parker said be was glad Mr Bunny had no committee. He thought that people should bear a candidate and then be allowed to go quietly round and record their vote, In reply to Mr Applin, Mr Bunny said that the effect of land tax upon publicans, bakers, and storekeepers would be that if they had no land they would not pay that tax, but if they had an income they would have to bear the income tax, If they saved money, got wealthy, and bought land then they would have to pay both. Mr Bunny, in answering a particularly serious and very deaf eleotor, said be would not support a Bill to buy up the large privato estates. It would open the door to corruption. They should dispose of the land they had got first. i Answering Mr Appliu, Mr Bunny i Baid that tho present education was not really free, as they had to pay indirectly, the mass of the people had quito to pay their share, fle considered teachers were all well off, They were fairly and regularly paid and had plenty of holidays. (At this stage there wbb a good deal of noise at the back of the hall.- Yells and quotations,)

In further response to Mr Applin, the candidate said he would have no bankruptcy law at all and no recovery of debts beyond a limited period. Trade would bocome more healthy, and those who. paid would not have to atump up for those who did/nt. (Applause.) Mr Goodin asked a questiou affecting land valuation amidst cries of "Ob 1 Sit down," "Let him speak " Blaze away," olc, and Mr Bunny responded with a good natured reply. In responso to Mr Partridge, who asked why he could not oeleot a section and got it, Mr Bunny said he did not believe in letting men pry round the country and pick the eyes out of the land,' The auction sale was the best means of fixing the price, and all could meet then on equal terms! Mr Bunny, overwhelmed with questions, here reprovingly remarked that "If God Almighty sent down a candidate ho could not please every-ibody,"-.and be then detailed some of ! his own qualifications again. The proceedings ultimately concluded amidst cries (still from the , rowdy section of the audienoe at the b a ck) of«"\VLat 18 it ?"" We did not hoarf 1 , with a vote of thanks to the candidate, which was carried unanimously by a show of bands. A vote lb the chairman followed,' ..

' Mr Bunny spoke throughout >y|(h considerable rapidity and without hesitation. His speech lasted ixactiy an hour, and the. whole proceedings were oyer by half past nimi o'clock."'