MR G. BEETHAM AT MASTERTON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3654, 5 November 1890, Page 2

MR G. BEETHAM AT MASTERTON.

Despite the threatening nature of tho weather, fully 'three hundred persons assembled'.in the. Theatre Koyal last evening to'liear the address of Mr George Beetham, a candidate for Parliament in the forthcoming eleotion. Included in this number were, about & soore of: ladies, who occupied the gallery, His Worship tho ; Mayor,- Mr ,G. Heron,-presided,. and in introducing the candidate asked for him a fair and impartiaOHearing, ;'. Mr Beetham, who was received with applause, expressed; regret that | tho weather was not all thatcould be ; desired. He was pleased to see, how- [ ever, that a number of ladies had I braved; the storm, He missed a lot , of country faces which were usually i at ; his'meetings, . but lie hoped to meet them on some future occasion at the various centres he would visit. Referring totheappealof thechairman I for a fair hearing, he said he had ad dressed a number of meetings during the fourteen years he' hadrepresented the district, and he had never yet had what could be termed a rowdy meeting. He. rather liked to see a ■ little life in a'meeting, and lio had no doubt ; that Mr Henall, who he noticed was present, would infuse a little life into the proceedings before, they dispersed (laughter). r He appeared before the electors on this occasion in a dual capacity—as ; the {"old member for the district and as a candidate ..for- their suffrages. Ho would like to explain a little of what had beeii done during the past H session. He could not, lie was sorry 1 to say, look baok upon the late session with pleasure,-ashe hadnevor known a more purposeless one, This may in some measure have been due to the .-.absence of the Premier. But the lamentable cause was the stonewalling of Opposition members, It was his sincere hope that whoever I was returned as for this district would endeavor to see this state of things altered, and assist in brluging down a measure which • would limit the power of speech. Ho had himself been compelled to. sit hour after hour listening to: more trash, whilst he was anxious to bring on - some measure of importance to the country. It was in , consequence of this obstruction tlmt a measure which himself and Mr Buchanan had fought for and wero I anxious stiould bo passed was rejected, r He alluded to the Hospital and Charitable Aid Bill, which he had no doubt every elector desired to see. brought into operation. He trusted j that notwithstanding its being lost ; in the last session, it would agnm bo P brought forward and passed. . One or two measures had been passed during the past session which materially affected the Wairarapa. : One of these--the Babbit Act—lie had no J doubt Mr Renall would enlighten ' them upon before the meeting closed. . Then there was the Sheep Act, the Representation Act, the School Committees Eleotion Bill and ,other important measures. Some, however, which were. of importance 'to..,the district, had been abandoned, owing 1 to the obstruction to which, he had referred. Among these! was the Counties Act, tho Land Act, and some Labor bills,'thelatter having reference to the appointment of Boards of , Conciliation'to deal with the disputes ' between labor and capital. Ho was hopeful,from what he had seen during 1 the past few.days, that 'THE PREMIER would be spared to again conduct the _ business of the House.. If he (the r speaker) was again' returned and ' found Majdr Atkinson leading, the House, he would, without doubt, be , again found as one of hi? followers. I Otherwise, he would take an independent stand, and would be guided ' py circumstances when the new Par i liament met. He would not, however, be found deserting those with whom he had been working for so long, He did not think there was i any probability of his following at ' least one man in the House, and 1 that was Mr Ballance. In bisopinion tho colony owed a great deal to Sir • Harry Atkinson for his conduct ofthe 1 business in the past. Favorable. ' results could at least be looked back upon. He did not care about quoting ' ' FIGURES .at length, but' ho thought a few comparisons might be interesting. | After payingoff the deficit, the present Government .this year liad a Burplus of #38,519. Duping the session preceding the last an opportunity was , afforded for calling in debentures for , 12,700,000, bearing interest at the I rate of.five per cent, Thjs was dpne ; under the most favorablo circuifjj stances. Nearly £96 for the £IOO had bem secured in the home market . for New Zealand stocks issued at 31 i per cent for a £2,700,000 I loan. This operation affected a 1 sayipg gf £BO,OOO a yfir i ll interim slopje." ¥iie§o sjocjw,- he was* pleased to say, weffi w yalue<j §t at Home. He was at IJoip when tho arrangement was made ftijd ho ibuul 1 ut looked u P°,° financiers. not look forward to a future for the present financial year. Although the, labour crisis would affect them; considerably the result would not be so serious as was at first anticipated. This had been proven by- the receipts of the past half year, To turn from the gldomy aspect of the question he might say that there are very few countries in i the world that could show as good a i revenue from exports as did New i Zealand (hear, hear). In 1885 tlie i value of exports per male adult,' i (exclusiveofwoolandgold) was at i the rate of IGla per. annum, whilst i in 1889 it was £26 6s Id, In 1885 I their manufactures totalled £104,000, 1 and in 1889 £208,000, Including i flax, the increase would be nearly I fourfold. The flax industry, as far as t he could judge, was only now in its I infancy, and was destined to become j one of the largest industries of' the i colony. The value of frozen meat < exported in 1882 was £19,889, i and in 1889 £783,000. No doubt t this year the total would reaoh over , a million, Their agricultural pro- i ducts in 1887 had reached £588,000, i whilst in 1889 they were £1,424,000. t During Sir Harry Atkinson's term t of office .-he had saved the colony ] £291,000- in the annual expenditure. \ He had promised to effect a'saving of 1 £300,000, but they would all admit c ho was not far from fulfilling his f promise. During the past year an t

: Economy had been literally forced down their throats, find by tliis means £50,000 had bepii sayed.He had no'doubt had the matter been left the hands of the Government tliey cbnl.d liaye effected this saving, but in a different and better way. He was no patty to the skinflintceremony. In his opinion the .laborer was worthy of his hire. Thelalary of civil servants should not be reduced. They were the best body of men the colony possessed, and work should not be.

Wd on liieir slibuidora and their rompnpvalion vecluced. . For instance, lier'a : was the Commission! 1 !: of Lnncis, wlioso nflrae lie would not montion, but wboisms known, to all. This public sei'vuiit. lmd to fill various olliccs-wliich wero placed upon him ono lifter another without any additional remuneration. When a consideration for his services had beeu proposed,-the proposal had been thrown 'out, ' This "'lie considered unjust; By hiui the system of accounts, and regulations of'deferred payment sjste'm, whicli'had worked so admit: ably, : had been introduced,'and Mr; Marchant had been of' very great service .to tba ; colony, lie (Mr Beetliam) had spoken strongly on,the. matter when tho- reduction'in the estimates was before tho House; For this ho lmd bevn blamed by Mr M|Cardle, who said he wished to establish a civil ..'servico 'aristocracy (hear, hear.) ,Ho was glad to hear Mr M'Cardle's'voice. (Mr Renall: Yes,, and that voice is laughter.) He begged Mv-M'Cardla's pardon, ho though tit was bis voice lie heard. At'aiiy, rate-lie had been, misrepresented • by- Mr -A1 'Cardie.: (Mv McCardle!. I did dot touch upon Mr Manhunt at .all,) .Neither did lie (the epeakeijiefov particnlai'ly' to Mr Marchant.' Mr M'Cardla. had accused hiui ofen'deavoring to make' an aristocracy-of' the civil service generally, fie mojiijtained.that ..the salaries of civil: servants should -be increased' as they .-grew older, and gained more' experience • (bear,, bear.) -At the same time, salaries should noibe increysed; when they wtre not earned. He would' feel it his duty to oppose,any reduction in salaries of.' uervants who''were doing good 'public service. (Mr Renall: Will you tell up t/hat ijr Merchant's salary is and'what It m propoaadto strike off?) Mr Marchant was getting £650 a year, and £SO was struck off,.(Mr Eenall: And a very good salary, too.) At any rate Mr Marobant was a good officer. (An elector: How long has he served the Coloiiy.-about forty years), Mr Marchant had ■ served. the Oolony since ho was a boy.. Hitherto. New Zealand had been accustomed to spend considerable sums of

Borrowed Mosey,: For many years they had an influx of money which they had never earned. This was demoralising, He was glad to see, however, that tbe corner >had been turned, He would not say that lie objected to borrowing in the future, In. 1887 they bad expended i960,000 of borrowed money,in 1888-89 £4i0,000 and,tho proposed expenditure for this year £525,959. A number of people had left.tbe colony, but from returns which he bad before him he found that most of tlietii were children. This was very strange, but itwasna doubt the result of 'men with families leaving, Most of their immigrants were either single men or young married men. The breadwinners had not left the colony in any numbers, He'was glad to see it was not necessary to have a

, Second Session ~ ) this year, This had . been almost r forced upon the House, but the real [ economists had strongly opposed it, i and a saving of £20,000 of tho 3 consolidated fund had thus been , effected, He would now like to refer [ to the < j Incidence of Taxation, i ,They had heard a good deal from j single taxers and others of late of the 'relationship of the Income and Land Tax to the Property-Tax. .He could , see no reason why a change in their j taxation should be. brought about, 1 The so-called single taxers had only i j adopted half the platform of Henry ) George. He, (Henry George) , believed in a land tax, but- he also believed in Freotrade as a necessary 1 corrolary, There were some present who accepted the land tax theory, : but who rejected Freetrude. He i had always been an advocate iof the ' policy of Freetrade, lAt {he -same' time, it \yas t absolutely impossible tq fqllo\y Free- , trade strictly where a Customs duty i was so necepsary for revenue purposes, 1 He askedliow far had the iucrease j in the Customs increased oar pros 3 perity 1 He could not see that it had i increased :' the prosperity of the ! working classes as a whole. There wore in the colony at the present r time 12,000,000 acres of Crown . Lands, 6,500,000 acres of Nativo t lauds, and 8,938,000 acres of other f reserves, The taxable real estate was ■ 45,810,87.3 acres,arid thpon-taxable i 83,377,000. The property taxable for t Wellington showed an increase of j £2,500,000. Thig spoke well for the j enterprise of the' district.' He ■s4 not care to p in'too much for 1 figures, but tljey would all admit they ; were interesting, Jo raise £850,000 r by the land tax they would have i to make in impost of 2d in the £ on i the land, This would be. very hard on ■ the farmers. The mortgagees and ■ iiie IB® would escape taxai (ion. T)iequestionbrought lipabqut jyi)SpTEE|. . . Absentees, he contended, paid g considerable sum in taxation,' Some had argued that the upimpyet} value of the land should be twd, This might be.? 1 ! very well, but it would not raise the revell! 18 required. He would gladly exempt impiWOnieuts from taxation, but he failed to see how the cereuue could be mado up without it. He ijpg])t that they .might at : any f.r.ate ; nja'ke alpiftefl? contribute' the same as the owners of improved property, but he could not seo how thisi apply , to the towns, They infght tjfe three sections together in the conijtry, improved and one unimproved ai)d make the value of the improved laqd the basis, for the tojatfon # the unimproved, A levelling-up process should be adopted which would make the absentees pay., Tho very best argument against a land tax had been used by- Sir Koberfc Stout at i Napier, when he declared that . sufficient revenue to meet the I expenditure could not be raised from 1 a landtag and that a change was i not desirable at (he present time, i Again, they all remembered tljat the i Stout-Vogel Government had pome I into power with a promise to alter i theincidenceot tuxatiop, but after consideration they had continued the' j Property Tax and had left office I without making this change (hear, \ hear.) The owners of land had not 1 only to contribute to the Government t funds, but they hadalso local taxation c to pay. There was no question of greater importance -to this district 1 at the present time than that of c the 3

SETTLKMKNI. OF .THE, LAND. The land now opened up for selection amounted to 1,1)88,000 acres. Last ' pr i'5,0,'9()5. .Ips had ;been ocbu*. pied. For the pss£ two and a half years 1,160,000 acres had Ijeen, takenup under the deferred payment 1 conditions whilst for the B.years previous only 750,000 acres was taken up under the same conditions. He did not wish to draw coinuarisousl

botweeii; the land disposed: 61 under the two Ministries, because ho looked upon Mr Ballanoe as; a gentleman who bad done a great deal towards settling the land. He Laikd wits very great pleasure the reappearance in the political arena of MrUqlleston, who was the 'first man to introduce the deferred payment and perpetual lease syatoniß. To him-the thanks of the Colony were due, Mr Rollestou had objected to the power of sale' granted in 1887, but his (the speaker's) impression was that the people came to. the Colony to buy a fow acres of (and,, and not lo lease, Although wliat -little income ho had was derived Ji'oni leasehold, ho believed in the freehold system, in a man having; tiis owa house and fig tree. Tho agricultural holdings had increased by 1000 .during the past year more than the previous six years.. The effeots of this could, be seen in the agricultural returns. The average area of agricultural holdings was 200 acres. JJast yonr the sum of £44,000 had been provided by loan for Settlement purposes. He was sorry to say that these loans >vero coining to : an end, and he could not see how they were .to be replaced.- It had beeii suggested that loans be raised through County Councils, Bat this would be'difficult, as tliQ system of raising fund 3 through Native lands, had nearly ceased. He would, if returned, assist in getting Crown and Native. lands to contribute towards the. cost .of . settlement. . Mr .MoCardle had advocated the raising of loans on the land, to b'a met by. local taxation. Mr Harry Bell, of I Wellington, had held a: viow something similar. ■ But Mr Bell could not have given the question a deep consideration, He had 'also . proposed that for the first two' years settlers should pay.riothing tothoGovernment. He could not see how the roads were going to be kept in repair unless loans were granted to local bodies. He was proud to say that he' had assisted in getting deferred payment thirds granted to local bodies with which to open up roads, He could not see how they could have got on without them. He had no doubt assistance would be continued, but at any rate the loan fund was at an end. He thought the colony was thoroughly justified, in going on to the London market for the purpose, He would not favor borrowing money for the formation of railways in the South Island, such as the Otago Central (hear, hear), but he believed they would bo doing wisely and well in borrowing money for' opening up of land. Mr Harry Bell had Baid they could borrow money within the colony at five per cent.. If this were | done ail spare capital would be usurped and those who wanted to borrow monoy would have to pay higher rates for it, This would materially affect thepocketsof settlers, He saw no reason why the money should not be raised at Home at 8| per cent, (hear, lieaij, He regretted to say that Sir Harry Atkinson had considered it inadvisable now to raise money at Home, He thoroughly congratulated the colony and Wellington city upon having such an able exponent of the land question as Mr Bell, and he hoped to Bee him take a seat in Parliament as his ability in this direction would be. of great service. He then referred to the number of absentees leasing holdings in the colony and the area of suoli holdings. He had thought there were more absentees than there really were, : Where, he asked, were the absentees in the Wairarapa? (A voice: Balfour,) Yes, there was | Balfour, that was about tho begin'ning and the end of the list. (An elector; Waterhouse I) Mr Waterhouse did not hold land in the district, (k voice: Dixon,) Well Mr Dixon might have land, but under exceptional circumstances. (Another elector, Grant!) Mr Grant had made very little out of the colony. (A voice; I don't think he did). Mr Balfour, who practically the only absentee, had cqt|tfit)uted a 'good deal towards starting Mr MoCardle and others in Pahiatua (Avoioe: Ho did not,-Mr MoCirdlo: No,— Another voice: He did,-Nol-But he did I—Roars oflaughter). Under Mr Merchant there had been a diminishing ut the cost of placing the land in the market, There was then the important question of the Conservation of Forests.

It had been urged by some that the destruction of the forests would materially affect the climate. He would not go qnito as far as this. If the conservation of the forests did not affect the district materially he Wild suggest that they be kept lhtaot. Some timr-ngg Messrs McOardle and Bunny on the Waste Lands Board had proposed that the Tararua ranges in tho vicinity of Pahiatua betlirown open for seleotioil. (Mr McOardle: Hear, hear,) This he did not agree with (hear, hear). He was iionviiiced that in some cases the timber was of greater value than the crops would be for many years, (Ml' McCwdle; Hear, hear), lie saw that Mt Sunny M ?aid. on holiday night that himself and Mr McOardje owed theip return to the Lapd Board to thp Wellijigton Posf. Hp vvoiild' ijoi like any person to ' think that he had been trying to deprive oither Mr McOardle or Mr Bunny of their peat, The facta were that the Government Jiad thought of depriving Mr MoCWls of his seat, fid (Mr Eeeillftin), thought, however, tha,t thp Commissioner was wrong, It had Ijeeij ssid fljjt Iff MoOardle was guilty of" diniftiijjng,'' tfe had assisted to get Mr McOardle put on fjjo Land Board, bat he could say that hp jjjd never, seen any "dummying.'' He '.(tk paker), had been asked to take n seat piftfie Board, but he would not do so a( Jfr McOardje's expense .aqd he considered, tlje Government were perfectly justified in making the jeappointment (hear! hear!)' Ms Bunny had &6oribed his dismissal to the action he took with regard to revaluation. This was not so, his term of office having expired, People had, however, complained of Mr Bunny's action. The Re-Valuation Bill had 1 been pwed, and it was the duty of the to administer it as it stood. 1 Personality he did i>.o,t ti)i/)k it was i just, for if they wished 'to"re-vaiu? j thoy sl)Oul(j go back ten or fifteen j years and'tceai, all alflt3(hear j hear! i He found fault with Mr Bunny jn I that lie Uad not done justice to tfome j of tlid teases brought before him. The measure might again come before •Parliament and the more objectionable clauses, expunged, Beforring to Mr Bell's address, ho said he quite agreed, that any interference with the' liberty of the subject on the land fuestion should not be tolerated, He could not conscientiously advocate tli3 buying of lands by Government for fettle. m<SM,- n Eqi: instance, supposing when Mr Beflall "|l|||(rton first and had taken up liisuligde besides , the old but beautiful mill stream, the Borough Cpunoil ot other

ody lud stepped in and cut up the 'and, how would be like it ? (Mr Renall; There's not enought of it.— •LaugLtor.) It wae not a a question of area; it was one of valuation. Mr Kenill, he might say, held great -part of Mastertoiv (Mr Renall; It's all mortgaged, though 1 —Renewed laughter,) Or, on the other hand, supposing Mr, M'Oardle in the early days of Pahiatna' had had the discretion to buy up & large area of that valuable land, would,he have liked to have had it taken from him for its property-tax value? (Mr M'Cardle: Yes, I would,—A voice: No you wouldn't—Laughter.) At any rate-he would not like it' under the Act which was then in foroe. (Mr Riinall here interrupted the speaker and asked a question,on the point referred to, being promptly replied to by Captain- Jones amidst roars of laughter), Mr Beetham said ho did r.ot understand the question, (Mr Renall repeated the query aud was again answered by Captain Jones.) Mr Henall .was consoled by the announcement that he was "quite right," and he should; receive some of the value of his land under the circumstances he had stated. (Captain Jones: Not' all of it,—Laughter) After Mr Renall had had a. further say, Mr Beftlmm remarked that the large Btookowners owning oyer 20,000 sheep apiece had increased from 130 lo 152 during the past 2J years, or at the rate of ten per cent; On the other hand there had been &very much larger increase of \ Binall holdings by the sale of Crown Land. I t was a matter for congratulation that the small owners had increased so rapidly. He would not say much about, his friend at the left (looking at Mr Hogg), but' he was sorry to see thai the editor of a leading newspaper should have said that the increase in the

VALUE OF iVOOL did'. not affect tiio colony as a whole. To this statement he took decided exception. Every penny taken off the land, whether in oats, wheat, cattle or wool, was an advantage to the community as' a whole. (Hear, hear.) He hoped' that if Mr Hogg was to take a seat in Parliament lie would at least gain a little wisdom. : (Hear, hear.) This editor had also said that rabbita were a " blessing in disguise." (Laughter.) He could, not Bee how this could possibly be when they cost the colony L 2,000,000 a year. He would refer to*this matter later on, and no doubt Mr Eenall would do the same when he had finished. (Hear, hear,) He was glad to be able' to congratulate the colony "Upon the earning power of the RAILWAYS. . ': They were now worth 1219s per cent, as against L2 12a per cent last year, Either commerce had increased to produce this result, or the commissioners had done justice to their offices, Had it not been that the Btout Government had purchased the district railways down south, they would have boon in a better position, to-day. Had this money been expended on the Forty-mile Bush line they would be muoh better off. (Hear, hear.) The total expenditure on the railways of the colony had been L 15,167,000. He now oame to the question of

EDUCATION. No doubt a number of questions on this point would be asked, He would endeavour to answer'them if possible. He referred in detail to the advance made in the attendance at the various sohools throughout the colony, and their, cost to- the education department, Mr MoCardle in his apaooh had said that the Government was spending money unnecessarily on the higher class of education, whioh was a detriment to the colony. • Mil MoCardle could not have looked uj> the statistics. The proportion of high sohools was indeed exceedingly small, Mr McCardle had also asserted that Jliq colleges weys only for the rich. He. maintained that any boy who had special ability could pass through the higher grades of education. It was in the power of the rich to send their ohildren Home for education, and by Riving them* the opportunity of educating their children in the Colony, considerable service had been done. Any child he again asserted could pass his scholarship and take advantage of the oolleges. (Mr Eenall '• We have had oae or two here who have taken scholarships, but through poverty their parents had been unable co send them to college, (Hear, hear). If that wp so an increase in the value of til? spjjqlai'ships should (jo n#, Willi regard to denominational education he would like to be very olear. There were private schools connected with the Catholic ana Episcopalian churches, which saved the Colony £88,885 yearly, He did not think the question of expense should stand in the way of granting the Catholics their wish, But, as a matter of principle he was not one who would admit the right of private schools to be supported liy Government money, He regretted that the Catholics, in carrying out their' principles,' should themselves and'yet not take advantage of the JJtate education. He Eijiiv no reason,' 'however, why scholar? educated by any primary school should not tujie advantage of the scholarships ollered by the department,. The Catholios were quite justified in demanding this, and.he.would assist them in every possible W.w to seoure this privilege. Ho liadbeen spoken tu uj ]].' R frieu^s in tjje Episcopalian Oliurchand asked ifbeijpuld pofcsjjehis |ray to change his viows on thoquestieli of denominational education,' The diffioulty : was that in once admitting outside jducatjon they did not know how far i tlieymignt bp bftokijjg iipjlie State jystem"'(liear, hear). He knew iii Wellington tfiat If tjieijr ;equp?ts "were' conceded there < sou'ld b,e half & d°® n Episcopalian ichoolsinffK 6 ?!?' He felt tliat lie lad no otiiei 'pljta'jiatl'vp flip to ippose denominational education a? le had done (applause). He had a etter in his possession from an elector n which lie was asked, firstly, if he vas satisfied with the non-recognition if moral teaching and moral training n the public schools. He might say ijiajJythat if moral teaching and raining %e flfjf adpjiftgd he would iotpesatrsficd',' Bui lio'.qpntended hat in tlie choice of t'eaoljers thjs was being, parried out at hopre^ilMi'P:®''!!)! B possible hear, hear), ijo !)$. bpei) ggketL :econdly, whether, jf hp 'was not atisfied with the iporal training and eaohipg,he would be prepared to take tepß to remedy the evil. If,ho hid eenthe evil lie would have felt it liaduty long since to have taken teps. He had also been asked ,'hether he would be prepared to upport the reading of the Bikle in ohools under the time table and onscieice clause. He had not looked .jj jjie Act, but he believed it was so. ow '(asdice; -Itjs.) Teaohers were owqm'teat liberty td'iifstnjpii th§

children in the Bible after schifiSk hours. Ho might say; however, lliat he had not voted; for the: admission of the Bible into schools (hear, hear).' He was not by any moaue irreligeous, but liis religious training liadnot been received from'the Bohpolsj: hut .from his motLer's side. He thought that if pastors, Sabbath school teaohera, and parents, did their duty there would be no need for the'reading; of the Bible in Schools (applause). Daring the last Parliament it had been his interesting duty, and> a pleasure too, to ask for the appoint- j Toent of a committee to see into tlio condition of Dairy and Other Industmes, The committee bad been appointed the; various industries. carefully inquired into, and a': careful report had been drawn up, -A. number of copies of this report had been printed at his instigation and were: in ' the. possession of ~tho Government, He would be glad to send in tbe'applioation of any elector for a copy of the. same. The result of the report was that it had been shown that their dairy exports might be largely increased in the future, No good could, however,• be done individually, as the shipping rates were so high. For 'this purpose they would Lave to form, associations, and he would himself at 110 distant' date call a meeting of farmers in the district'to consider the question. The report suggested similar combinations to [those in existence ? in-America. He saw no reason why, with their exceptional climate and the Home demand, their. exports of. dairy produce v should.' not' be ! worth L 2,000,000 a, year. Home buyers had long been seeking after' a' good produoing country, and lie believed {his,could be found in New Zealand. Although Denmark (the dairy, o.i the world) might possibly increase ' her export, Belgium, France and other countries ..were exporting aa much as they could, New Zealand would therefore have the opportunity of helping tomeetthe increased demand of the Home market, and for this purpose he would.be glad to assist in the formation ot associations as indicated.. (Hear, hear.) They might also export large quantities of fruit if they only procured cool ohambera, He would like„to touch on another interesting question, that of the

[1 "■ JOINT LIVE STOCK AND EABBII y Committee's report, The report bad r assisted materially in securing the t passing of the Sheep Act, the; Cattle i Act and the Rabbit Act. The latter e was passed solely on their- reoom--0 mendation, (Ho then read an extract if from the report.dealing with the number of rabbit-skins exported, the question of wire netting, and the r importation of stoats and weasels), As it far as he could see the stoats and 3 weasels had done a great deal of good . in this district, He did not like the r idea of forcing the adoption of the e rabbit' proof fence as a legal fence, a Tho question would, however,, rest </ with the settlers. He had promised a. Mr-Renall at his last meeting that he 1 would if possible secure an amendb ment of the Rabbit Act; [Mr Renall: i. You have done it and increased the e fines—.Laughter,] He then, at the ] request of Mr Renall, read tho Act 0 asi amended on the question of fines and their mitigation. He had carried out his promise as far as he could. ii The intention of the Act was not to & punih the innocent, but to'ensure i. that the evil did not exist. He had e been blamed some years ago for the 8 action, he had taken with regard 1 to scab. But what did thev now r find 1 The action taken by himself i io conjunction with Mr Buchanan a had resulted in the district being 3 entirely, free from tho scab, and in s faot the whole colony. He hoped at r no distant date to see an interchange p of stock between tho sister colonies, i » thing which had not previously J existed, He now like to touch 3 upqa ! ' . Peesonal Mattbm. 0 He was not aware now how [ many candidates there were to he 8 for Parliament, He knew that Mr j M'Cardle had addressed the electors r and that Mr Hogg had announced t himself through the columns of his f paper. He therefore-expected that , there would be three candidates, He . had represented the district for the 1 past fourteecn yearß, and had not • wilfully neglected his duty, He admitted hiving made occasional j errors-nobody could be without t thorn. It had beon said he slighted 1 the working man,, He oould assure , them that he had represented tlie ) working man quite as much as the • rich. He was not a rich man himself. I In Miatua it had been said that he 1 was paying Mr Hogg to stand for the i purpose oE defeating Mr M'Oardle, I whilst at Maßterton it had been , reported he was paying Mr McCardle tora similar purpose (laughter,) He i did know how such reports could have i gained currency. It had also been i Baid that he had bought over- Mr McOardle at the last election. Mr McCardle himself, he pointed out, had declared to the contrary (hear, hear.) He had further been credited with spending'£lsoo at the last election and keeping six publiclioußes open (laughter,/ All he could say that if he, spent £ISOO ifl an elecinn he tyould b'6| a fool (applause), I[e challenged tlip report that 1(0 hail l;epto|Qi any publiclpsp, He had never made it a practice to spend lirga amounts of money in public bouses. He admitted he taight have occasionullj had a drink with an ; elector, but this was all (hear I hearl Any man who exercised his vote n* 2!? nnor » which,he was treated in the pubiio houses was not worthy gf (he franchise (bud j. flla'use), InppQcliiE} : onheintiinafe<} tluit he would be gl d to ansiver'any i questiom which m gh'. be put t<j him. i [cheers,] ' j " ' Questions, I The Cfiaiftoiin tjjen called for I questions. • ' " MrYonßedin; Do you consider < —(Cries of.'! Platform"),' \ Mr Yon Redin [havjng mounted i t|i» pjatform]: Do yoi) cqnsider that under the' laqt Representation < Act the co.untry districts gqj> their t fair quote of representatives ? j Mr Beetliam: I think they, might have got more, but they got all they ( could (applause), The stonewalling ( prevented them getting much, Mr Von Redin: Do you consider t it fujr that tjjis district, containing oyor electors,' §hpuld ;rptp j only one man' whilst | whioh has only 80l)0, returns' i [hear,hear,] ' j ifrßeefhpj The Represontstlpjj 8 Act wos forced qn tjie last' ceniiys, A 1 change will no doubt be [iadp li; ', nexit Parljatnent, but' thp ejectors, v under the circumstance, should have c all tbo more reason for returning tfie a best man [applause], { _ In reply to a question him ia in writing as to whether he'.was . jh li favor of establishing a morgue 'in c Masterion for the reception of cor pses, v Mr Beetham said this was more for t tho consideration of the gentleman on his left (meaning the Mayor), It was f

ho doubt very hard that thoy should compelled totake dead bodies to the nearest hbtnl. hfytoat and placed it carefully round •the Chairman, whom ha explained, was suffering from the cold. [Much laughter,] The Chairman: Any father questions ? Now Mr | . Mr Rensll :.I wl3 going to ask one' or two qufiationa but l almost forgot them [laughter'and cries of platform ' and order,] •• •• - Mr Renall: I think Mr Beetham can hear my questions and Answer, [Laughter,] .V', Mr Von Redin: Why didn't' you' '■ say that when I went; lip , there! S Mr Benalh Why did you. go ? "* L should like to ask Mr Beetbatn if • Harry Ball has declared himself in'R'favor of a property or aland tax?..{ [Hear, hear.] L , Mr Beetham: A property tax, 'Mr Renall: How many acres does the Bell family hold ? ' v _ Mr Beetham: Very little, and tliat ; is not over valued, I am sorryto say. [Hear, hear.] • • „Mr Renall; Can't I assist. I have ■ in my possession .the speech of Mr' " Jellicoe,delivered at Kijbirnie, •An Elector: That'tf no good,'(Cries ■ of"He'sa blackleg,'! etc,) ■■■•■ Mr Renall: Well; I find by this they hold 24,000 icres, [Applause; l ] ■ A Voice :Bnt that'a the firm of Bell >' : and Robinson, '

• Mr Renall • I should liko to read ' tha report of this address. I have 0 brought a candle with; me (laughter ■ ' as, thought, thai as the Mayor was * 1 presiding I might-want it (cheera,) jj Mr Beetham: The Bell family holds • j 18,400 acres, of the value of £49,844,'Mr/' Renall projeeded to the ' • |ildtform and-lit his candle amidst 3 tremendous applause and aproar. C Kenall ' J o llic6e at Kilbirnie' r (A voice: Let him alone, he's a | ''blackleg") urged thatabsentees were not entitled to exemption, There wero ' 1150 absentees, Mr Jelhcoe warns 1 the electors against'returning the 9 friends or allies of large landholders, 1 He did not mean you? (laughter), s ; - j Mr Beetham: Oh,no! I Mr Renall :Of course not, Mr |( Jellicoe tells its that 250 people in the ' p^fTr o£ Srm of Bell and Robinson owns j 115,542 sores, Ido not think Mr' ut fi ell will go in for a land tax, I don't 9 know what he's got you down fori' r Slaughter,J t. \ ; - ; • Mr Beetham : None at all. " t 'Mr Renall then read a Hat of tho a areas of properties held by various 3 persons throughout the colony, which' j inoluded- -Messrs -.Williams ■ .and 1 s Beethatu's;64,ooo aire's, j ? J Mr Beetham: That is divided 1 among a good many, • 1 Mr Renall: Yes, when it is cut up 0 like mine it will not be worth muoli, 1, Mr Jellicoe has suggested , that the t honorariums should; ba dono'.away 1 with. Ido not agree with him here, 0 (is you, Mr Beetham, could not got on • without it, (Uproar and laughter,J : Mr Von Reden: Mr Chairman, I 3 riso to a point of order, (Cries of 5 " sit down," " who are youi" etc.) 1 The^ Chairman : Oh, he'll come to b the point directly [(laughter.) i-; 1 Mr Renall: What does this man . want? (Laughter,) Proceeding, he 0 stated that the Bank of New Zealand ' e held over 300,000' acres in the colony 1 He asked how could the land be fairly y 0 distributed whilst this .was so ? If 1 they were going': to return, men! who:: i would prevent this distribution he ' f was not (hear,-hesr). He-did not ' 1 remember labor, ever holding a better 5 position in the world than itdid today. 1 But still the degradation ' existed in t England. The young men in London had'now to dress in monkey-like dress , and white their hands with whitning. j (Laughter,), He then referred to his' 1 visit Home in 1875. Things at Home were disgraceful, and ha hoped they would not reach the same state in New 1 Zealand. He trusted they would have 3 a better distribution of wealth in this r colony (bear, hoar.) He would not 1 detain them long that night, but he [ would liko. to say just a little j about tho Babbit Act (laughter J He ; considered that as he had only his 1 name attaohed to a piece of j paper as owning a certain property k 22 years ago, he had been persecuted 1 in the Courts and not prosecuted. " • 1 Mr Beetham : You're an absentee l then, [Hear, hear.] I Mr Renall replied that he would 1 bo an absentee if he had not been present at that meeting, [Laughter,] 1 He then referred at length to the , appointment of the Rabbit Board, 1 and its inspectors, (dries of /'outit short,") lie would not detain them'long. He thoughteverybody else was exhausted, otherwise he would retire in their favor. (Laughter.)' He had' received a petition from Mr J O Andrew for circulation, praying tho Rabbit Board to decide tt, hear; the defendant before cases' were'ta^ei\ into Court by tho'lnsreoior. Justjcea ; of the Peace refused'to. sit on'the i Bench now to administer tho Act. He then referred to his recent, conviction, and argued that suoh an infamous : law was no,t right. This was the last ; act of the Philistines. (Laughter, and cries of" givers some politics".)' He that {he Rabbit Atf was political, us it concerned the whole colony, A Voice: We'yo had enough, give us something else, ; Mr Renall: You don't know what you are talking about, (Laughter,) At any rate I only want to ?ay that I have the petition in my, possession; Mi- Benall had conoludcd his oration; but no, this was not to bo.so/ Having his exoitetnetjt with i>little of Aijata'iSale fjiom' thS decflpfej ' on the table,''' he. asked Mr lleetham "if ii was trjiele ]iad ' taken'tho whole of his salary whilst he was absent in England (laughter,)' ' Jtfr Beetham : No, it' was no' ' v offered i?)e, bi|t'if )'W ■ I would have been justified.|n accepting' it (hear, hear). ' '' 'Mr- Rena|l: So they have others for eight an<j ten days aqd yaW: as a whole fjaiighier). I dilj not think Vj - yflu l|ad ttfken ft (renpwed |aughter|. Mr Renall then resumed hiq geaf . and the Chairman called fqr fnrfhef questions. ' [f\.;-j; (Cries of" Captain," "Woodroffe," and "Papwortb.") • ; ; : ; Mr A. Walker "asked the candidate if jje \vas in favor of a - reductjon• in,' freights on [)r(i'()ijce' fheav, Jjear)', Trains at tho firesept.time werp going •• half full' Iftliey'had goods trainl at cost, they' would do "better," this fact fcy j' tfloq sending chaff ,to - was agaiq the qijeqtiqn Qt ijflpqrtatioß of sheep by. the railways, Ho knew a man who had sent to Wanganui for soven eheep and their freights amounted to £3 17s' lOd. Another had a sheep sent to Diilefield which - cost bim £2l3s 2d, Why, he asked, were proper boxes not provided and the sheep sent as.freight? , ; . Mr Beetham thanked Mr Walker for having brought up these (juestiou?

Ho had brought them both befoi-y t' ; Cpnjjjissioners, but ho hud not yet ' rec ®i™d h reply. There wero many anomalies wbiob thoy-miglit consider, Although the Government wero fostering tho railways, .they should by all moans juako reductions to farmers in tho direction indicated [hear, hoar], Mr It, D, Dagg hore moved a vote of thanks to the candidate, . Mr A. Walker seconded, • Mr Pownall siiid that before the resolution was put ho would like to usk a question. Under the Distill-, ■ation Act persons hud been fined for hariog_ distillery plants in their possession, aud had no opportunity of proving their-innocence, Ho then . referred to the fino of JBBO in default , , six months, which hud boen imposed in this district somo time ago. The name of the infifrinant was not given, The mere fnjjP of a still being on a person's property made him liable toa peunlty ol- not under £SO or six months' hard labour, This he maintained who on a with tho Babbit Act, The - question was chief, amongst those affecting tho liberty of the subject. Ifchad been looked over for tho past Ho would ask Mr Beetbam how this camo to bo looked over, (Hear, bear,, Mr Beetbam replied that this • question had been brought before him at tho last meeting, and ho had i promised to do somothing. Tho c Distilleries Act had come before the ' House, and he had spoken to the introducer of tho Bill, He regretted ® he had not had an opportunity of c moving an amendment, for bo felt the injustice of tho Act, and would lie glad, if returned to deal with, the sam e, hear, hear. Avote of thankswas then carried by acclnmatidn. Mrßeetham in responding, eaid he hoped lo again address them, at..a futtiro date, when he would refer nt length to tho question of capital and labor. • A vote of thanks to the chair concluded the proceedings,