WAIKATO ELECTION.

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1120, 28 August 1879, Page 2

WAIKATO ELECTION.

MR J. B. WHYTE, AT HAMILTON. The Hamilton Hall was filled with electors ! on Tuesday night when Mr J. B. Whyte came before them as a candidate for the Waikato Electoral District m the House of Representatives.

On the motion of Mr Potior, seconded by Mr P. Walker, the chair was. taken by Mr William Cumming. who with a few brief and appropriate remarks introduced the subject of the meeting. Mr Whyte, on coming forward was received with loud and continued cheering, and spoke as follows :— You are all aware from what has been stated m tho papers that I have been requested by a large number of my fellow-settlers to contest this election. It was thought that the district should be represented by a local man, one whose interests were identified with your own, and the choice m which I myself heartily joined first fell on Mr Claude. He was written to and requested to come forward, but after a weeks deliberation oleclined. I was then asked to allow myself to be put m nomination and willingly do so. I have come out as you aro all well aware as a supporter of tbe liberal measures propounded m the Governors' speech, but though my views are m accord with that speech, and although I moan to support and assist m carrying out the main features of that policy, I will be no blind follower of any man or any party. I have been asked, by the extreme partizans of either side, by the one, whether I will assist m turning out the present Ministry, by the other, whether I will give them a thick and thin support. I will pledge myself to neither course. It is absurd, to ask anyone to do so. As a new member, I must, if returned to the House, find out whether the accusations the one party make against tho Ministry are true or not. I must then find out who would- be their successors, and what are the measures of such successors, and then vote m the interests of the North, and of Auckland m particular. Auy man intending to use his judgment, oould not give such a pledgo, one way or the other. One thing I will promise to do — to endeavour to keep the Auckland vote united, to obtain justice for Auckland m the distribution of all loans to be yet allocated, and to obtain recompense for the unfair allocation of the p-*st. In the matter of Educa-lon, I belive tho present system to be decidedly the best, as the only system applicable to the Colony at large. lam an advocate, also, for manhood suffrage, on the principle that, as the Legislation of the Colony affects not merely property, but the lives, the liberty and the social welfare of every inhabitant, every man should possess a voice m chosing its representatives, provided he posseses a six months residential qualification, and is registered, but I disapprove of the Maori dual vote, for it is absurd to give a larger power of representation to the Maori than to the European. I would not, however, oppose plurality of votes m County, Road Board, and Borough elections. There the interests involved are purely those of property, and up to a certain extent property should be represented m proportion to its interests involved. The Land Tax has been a failure, pressing hardly upon men of moderate means. A property tax would, I think, be far v the. better of the two, and I fea_ it will also have to come to an Inoome Tax, as the only means of reaching those deriving large incomes from mortgages, bank, mining, and other shares, all of which are increased m value, and rendered safe and secure by public expenditure and public works. Unimproved lands, held purely for speculative purposes, should also be taxed, so that the owners may not be able to hold back large blocks of land, to be increased m value by other people's improvements. The County Act,l oonsider, is a total failure. The powers and functions of County Councils must be enlarged, or Counties altogether abolished. Far too much work of a local and provincial character has been thrust upon the Government at Wellington. A number of small matters, of a local character, are left over to the end of the session. By this time, the House is thinned, Members are too tired with business, to pay much attention to comparatively trivial matters, the individual who wants the bill put through, and, perhaps, one or two others only know anything really about it, and so the measure slips through, at the fag end of the session, inducing careless legislation, and .often tending to great injustice. The work of the old Provincial Councils, from all I can see, is anything but perfectly carried out m Wellington. The Read Boards, however, have worked well, and I think their powers might be enlarged, with advantage. The most important matter agitating the public mind just now, is the native land purchase question. The present system cannot be allowed to continue, for many reasons. Men of moderate means are kept altogether out of the market, because negotiations for the purchase of native land are so very expensive, and so full of risk, that no one,* without the command of large capital, and without considerable experience, can afford .to touch them. A man of moderate means could not risk all ho had, m a single purchase, for, if this fell through, he would lose his all, but a wealthy man, or ring of wealthy men, could afford to lose one or two negotiations out of several, if they succeeded m carrying out the rest. This injured the European of moderate means, who wanted to purchase native land, and it injured the native owners, because, when men had to run such a risk and lose on some negotiations, they could afford to give all the less price for the land they did buy. The system, too, kept outside capital out of the North. Men of means, from the South and from Australia,' come here with the intention of buying land, but there is little freehold to ofler them. They wont look at native land. There is too muoh speoial knowledge required, cr too much dependence on agents, and too many complications, and they go away again, taking their money with them. Such a state of things plays into the hands of land rings, and, indeed, creates them. It' is a fact that, m Auckland, Hawkes Bay, and on the West Coast, about a dozen men m each place have the market tp themselves. The Government furchoso sygtenj*. has sxlso proved a failure, t haa lookod up hjwdreds. of thousands ! of acres, which neither the Government } nor anyone else oan get at, and I fear it [ will always be a failure m the future, I see, by yesterday's 'Herald,' that the Native Minister's proposed bill, on this subject, has been under discussion, and, as far as it is made public, it seems to me to meet the' requirements of the case. It will let every one have a fair and equal chance to obtain moderate sized lots. In refering to our purely local matters, I may |jU'B_ nation the Thames- Waikato Railway, j ■nec.ij •qqjS; say, I should do my very utmost to pH>(k \b .9??- f an > told that tenders will, m a week p? tsjrq, be called for commencing works at this end of the line. If this, however, is incorreot, I would do my best to get it done as quickly as possible. I would also urge on the Government, the desirability of at <4^ procuring the railway bridge, for cjussihii' .fthe rij/er at Hamiifcon, the only obstacle m tlje way being, the difference m the opinion 91 the ■Wsiftesr'*} #§ ty §jf*

kind of bridge, one contending for a bridge of ono span only, tho ether for a bridge of more than one span. The branch line t» Cambridge is even a more necessary work, and may fairly claim to bo advocated, not only on its own merits as opening up one bf the most productive and wealthiest districts m Waikato, hitherto left cut ia the cold, m the matter of railway constriction, but as a line which, by fnr ther extension, will connect Auckland b_C raj} with the Eist Coast and the La!>6 .Country. There was no difficulty m carrying oh that work. It could be commenced at once, and not be like the Te Awamutu-Taranaki line, a mere line upon paper. It was nonsense to say the North Island received its fa«r share of publio expenditure, when half the money voted for the North, £1,117,000, could, probably, not be expended for many years. Meantime, the money set against thus item, for the South, could be spent on lines, with the construction of which there was no. such delay. If, however, the branch line to Cambridge could not be at once extended on to the Lakes, I would urge the construction of a coach road beyond Cambridge, for I think we can hardly overestimate the value to this part of the country of opening up through communication to the East Coast and the Lake Country via Hamilton and Cambridge. One more thing, and I have done. It shall be my aim to make the Hamilton traffic bridge a free bridge. It is absurd, when m other parts of the colony bridges are constructed free of cost by the Government, m places of far less importance and population than this, thai; the people of Hamilton and Waikato should be burdened with tolls for the cost of the; construction of. a bridge on a main trunk line of rdad; it is a tax that presses heavily on us all. For my part, I know that it is the heaviest of all taxes that I have to pay. In conclusion, gentlemen, I have already -stated that I come forward at the request of my fellowsettler.-*, as an .independent man, distinctly pledged to certain measures, but to no man, be he Grey, Fox, Atkinson, or Whitaker, or the parties they represent. I have given you my reasons, but, at the same time, I intend to carry out, as far as I can, tho Liberal policy as enunciated by the present Government, and to do my utmost to keep the Huclsland representatives an united body m all matters affecting the North. I also intend to insist upon justice m the distribution of loans m future, and recompense for injustice m the past. You have known me long enough to judge of the value of my pledges. My interests are identical with your own. My home is here. My sympathies are here. I am no office seeker, and I intend to do my utmost, m the House or out of it, for the colony as a whole, and Waikato m particular. Mr Whyte sat down amid loud and prolonged applause.

The Chairman then asked if any elector wished to put any questions to the candidate. After waiting some time, and no question being put, Mr Potter proposed, and Mr Knox seconded, the following resolution : — "That, m the opinion of this meeting, J. B. Whyte, Esq., possesses the confidence of the electors of the electoral district of Waikato, and that he is a fit and proper person to represent their interests m the House of representatives, m the forthcoming parliament." . On the motion being put, quite a forest of hands was held up for it ; on the reverse being put, three hands were held up, and the resolution having been carried, three cheers for Mr White were called for, and lustily responded to. A vote of thanks to the Chairman, proposed by Mr Whyte, brought the proceedings to a close.