MR McMINN AT TE AWAMUTU.

Waikato Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1469, 1 December 1881, Page 2

MR McMINN AT TE AWAMUTU.

Mb McMinn addressed the Waipa electors in the Volunteer Hall, Te Awamutu, on Saturday evening last. There were about 90 persons present, and Mr Sloane was voted to the chair. The chairman having bespoke a fair and impartial hearing, The candidate entered upon his address, which was something similar to that delivered at Raglan. On the matter of native lands passing from the hands of the natives into the hands of Europeans, he suggested that the Government should merely act the part of agents to secure that in case of transfer of native lands the natives should not be robbed on one hand, nor the Europeans be victimised on the other, through buying lands from Maoris who had no right to sell. The Government should see that proper reserves were made for roads and other necessary public works, but in no case should they deal in native lands for the sake of profit. Speaking of the Rating Act, he thought that the system of rating on the value to sell was the fairest ; thar rating should not be confined to the basis of the annual value, but thai it might be made optional to the ratepayers to adopt either the annual value or the capital value as a basis for rating. In any case he would not propose to go back to the acreage system, and would recommend that if any system were made compulsory, it ought to be the value to sell, and not the annual value. He had seen it stated that the present Government proposed to elect the Legislative Council under the same system as in Victoria, which wan simply a large property qualification. That was, however, incorrect, because the Government proposal wa« simply the same aa Mr Curtis's bill of 1878, which proposed to elect the Council by the Hou>e of Representatives without any qualification of property whatever, beyond that of ordinary electors. In respect to the contending parties in the House, he said that measures had been rejected, liberal in themselves, simply because they came from the wrong side of the House. This bill of Mr Curtis's was a oase in point, in which a J j-b^jvaJ m&asara was r&}ecbed. It was his opinion that raeasuie-i should be deckled on their merits without respect to which side they came from. ( Hear, hear and applause). In supporting the property tax against the land tax, he instanced his own case as a proof of the oppressive Dature of the latter. Under the land tax he had paid £5 annually on some 400 or 500 acies, when another gentleman who had about 4000 acres, paid rather le-s than this amount, whereas under the propeity t-ix this person contributed a fair amount on his property. He approved of the action of fie Gove rn inent at Parihakst, and hoped that what had been done would put an end to the Maori trouble. ( \pplau*e). He did not approve of the system of land endowments altogether. There was a university endowment in the county of Raglan of some 10,000 acres, which could only be dealt with by leasing for a limited term of years, and thus the land was locked up for an indefinite period, whereas if it wero sold and the money invested in securities and public funds, a revenue would be derived from it immediately, and the land itself could be utilized to the best possible advantage. He held as a principle the most beneficial manner of using land generally to be in the occupation of the owner himself. It had been owing to a different view of tho responsibilities of members to their constituents that he lost the confidence of the constituency at the last election. Mr McMinn in support of his action on that occasion, quoted a few paasages from the speech of Edmund Burke, at Bristol, and concluded his address by hoping that out of the three candidates (exempting Mr Whitaker) before the eleotors, they would find one to represent them. After a few minutes, no questions being forthcoming, Mr McMinn contradicted a rumour to the effect that he came out with the intention of assisting Mr Whitaker. A vote of thanks was proposed by Mr Daly, and seconded by Mr White, and on a show of hands being taken, 25 voted in favor of the motion, and none against it. la reply to Mr Andrews, Mr McMinn said he would only bo too happy to meet the other two candidates and talk over the matter of who should retire. As for him, he only desired to see Waipa represented by a bona fide settler, and would therefore be most happy to meet the other candidates if agreeable. After a vote of thanks to th« chair, the meeting closed.