MR. F. A. WHITAKER'S ADDRESS.

Waikato Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1472, 8 December 1881, Page 1 (Supplement)

MR. F. A. WHITAKER'S ADDRESS.

A LARGE aud enthusiastic meeting of the Waipa electors met Mr Whitaker in the bow Volunteer Hall, Hamilton, last night. The Mayor, Mr Knox, presided. The candidate, who, on l'ising, was greeted with prolongued applause, said that he had called them together at that time, not for the purpose of giving them • long political lecture, but for the purpose of explaining away misapprehensions which may have ariten in the public mind, promulgated principally by persons interested in damaging his candidature, and misleading them as to the real facts of the case. These were electioneering wiles, and they were partly the result of ignorance on the part of those by whom they were made. He had only just returned from vory friendly meetings held by him at Alexandra and Kihikihi, and he was told by persons who had met him since his arrival, that he had better look oui, as he was going to catch it hot that night. (Laughter and applause.) He refused at the time to believe these statements, and the kindly welcome they had given him on that occasion fully strengthened him in tho disbelief he had then expressed. He had had abundant opportunities for testing the spirit of fair play, which invariably pervaded the electors of Waipa. Jle had had experience of two election contests — one in 1878, and the other in J879, — and hot and determined as each Of these contests had been, he had never on one single occasion experienced anything but fair play at the hands of the electors. (Applause.) It seemed to be one of the gifts of the race from which they had sprung that, no matter how much they might differ from the opinions expressed, they were always j ready to afford an impartial heaving — aye, and even afford everything in the shape of fair play to the person who came before them. (Applause.) In that respect the Anglo-Saxon race and their descendants differed from foreign nations. He had always reciprocated that spirit of fairness and impartiality, and, whatever the consequence to himself as an individual might be, he would take very good care indeed that he would not lend himself to any proceeding calculated to do injury to his predilections in that respect. (Applause.) He was prepared to fight as hard as any man, and to do hi& beat to win the election — to get returned at the head of the poll, as he had no doubt that he would be ; but he would take care to do nothing that would prevent his shaking hands heartily with the most active of his opponents the very moment that the poll was over. (Applause.) So much for preliminaries. Now to business. There were two or three things lie wished to speak to them about. They had cropped up in his candidature. His object in mentioning them was to show how utter futile and absurd the objections were which had been made against him. Before entering the hall he had met with a man— a much respected friend of his — the gentleman was, piesent, and would hear if he did not give a correct statement of the affair. \\ ell, then, that gentleman told him that a person had come to him that day and told him that he (Mr Whitaker) had said he had only to hold up his hand and the electors of Hamilton were bound to como to him. Now he would ask them : Did any peison ever hear of a greater absurdity. He was not a fool, and would never mane such a statement, (Applause.) It reminded him of the little incident that had taken place the other day at Whatawhata, and which had just been related to him as he believed as it had taken place. Mr Johns' in conversation with a friend of his remarked : "I am beginning to find out that Whitaker's a pretty cunning card, and he has to be looked after." Well in tho face of such disinterested testimony as that, (laughter), he askad them if it was at all credible to suppose that ho was such a fool for himself as to make the remark which had been attributed to him.(Laughter and applause.) Nothing could have been more likely to have alienated from him tho support of erory independent minded man than a statement of that kind. He need hardly oay that he absolutely disclaimed ever having uttered such a statement and no person could have more astonished than ho was himself when he heard it imputed to hito. (Applause.) He would strongly advise them to accept reports and rumours of this kind with a pinch of Bait. He did not for one moment mean to haply that the candidates tbcmsoh'Oi would, be gofity of gross, and ho might add stupid misrepre&enfcafciows of that kind. It was their over ziealoub friends and agents, however, that allowed themselves to be betrayed into btatameuts of that sort, and for that reason ho strongly advised them to accept reports of that kind with a large amount of mental reservation. (Applause.) He would now like to say a few words on another subject, his relations to which had been grossly misrepresented. He meant the much talked of

Ten per cent Reduction. In the first place he would ask them to bear in mind that there were SS members in Parliament, and that the reduction in question was the work oi the&e gentlemen, and not, as would seem to be imputed, his doing, or the doing of any other individual member. He had always striven to obtain as much power as possible in the House, but he had to make the effort any against that of the remaining 87 members, He would tell them, however, that he had voted for the reduction, and he did bo on these grounds. In making his statement the Colonial Treasurer showed that there wag a deficiency of £9J 5,000. That statement haa never, up to the present, been contradicted. Indeed, subsequent events have tended to confirm it, and augment the deficiency. Under these circumstances it became absolutely necessary that all classes of the community should be called upon to bear their Fair share »f the deficit. There were only two ways in which it could beMlrjade ■p that was by the imposition of taxation and tho reduction of then?' expenditure. Again they must been in mind that they had all to pay the cost of the civil service. The labouring classes as veil at any other olas* had to contribute their •hare towards defraying the cost of Host service. They might not pay tho money direotly out Of their pockets it was true, W they had nevertheless to find it; jontributions had to be levied en what they eat, and wbat they drank for the piyajont <?f these salaries, We wished

them to keep that particularly in view. Govarnmenfc meroly disbnrsed the money and it was tho people who had to find it. That was the true faces of the case but they were apt at times to lose sight of them. While Government paid the salaries tho public had to be taxed to find money for them. Now there was an increase made on all kinds of taxation, and he agreed in the opinion, and he still maintained rightly so that the civil servants of the Government wore bound to contribute a fair share towards the deficiency thus requiring to be made good. (Applause.) There was close upon a million of money that had i to be made up, and that amount could not possibly be made up out of taxation alone. Reductions in the expenditure had to be made. In connection with this point, he would quote a few remarks from the financial statement made by Major Atkinson on the occasion referred to. He said: "We are paying over £1,000,000 yearly for salaries, pay and wages, and this is upon estimates which have been apparently reduced to the lowest possible amount. The Government have had under consideration the question of the reduction of the salaries of Ministers. They do not think Ministers are over-paid, and they are not piepared at present to recommend a reduction in their salaries. That question will be carefully considered during the recess." (Hear, hear.) He would ask them to pause tor one moment and harken to what follows. The paragraph went on to say: "But looking to the financial position of the colony, and the necessity for reduction, which must be made in some form, we prefer the ten per cent." He would ask them to note that "20 per cent, shall be deducted from their salaries for the current year, beginning on Ist July next." That meant this : that they begun with themselves. | They took off 20 per cent of their own salaries, just exactly double the amount taken off the civil service, which means that £1230 then paid to them was reduced tt £1000. (Applause.) Furthermore, these reductions, unlike the others, have never been replaced. They are still drawing their £1,000 and to all appearance the reduction will become a permanent one. (Loud applause.) Then again, the Treasurer in his statement says, and this is the point to which he wished to direct special attention: — "We shall therefore propose to the House, notwithstanding the fact that the estimates have been apparently kept within the narrowest limits, that 5 per cent., or £50,000 be struck oIF the votes for salaries, pay and wages, and we shall then proceed in the manner 1 have indicated to make the savings ; and if, with the aid of tha department, we are unable to make the necessary reductions to cover this amount, we shall issue a scale of per centages showing the sum to be deducted from every employe of the Government, m liich together will make up the £50,000." That, they would note, was the proposal made by the Government as stated by the Colonial Treasurer in his Budget speech of 1579. What was pioposed was a reduction of 5 per cent. The JO per cent, reduction was subsequently bi ought down on the motion of Mr A. iSaundcrs, and a number ot caucuses were held to discuss the point. It was the pressure of their circumstances which induced him to agree to the reduction. It was shown that tho colony had been brought to the verge of bankruptcy, and that an immediate reduction ot the cxpendituic \v,v-> absolutely imperative. At the caucuses he uiged that the reduction should only lie a temporal y one. They had the nun and bankruptcy of the colony stiiing them m the face, and it was only m view of these gia\e emoig«icics that he consented to it in that form at all. (Applause.) It was distinctly understood that the reduction then made should only operate for the one year ; that the civil service should only be made to contribute a f.iir propoitinn towards the general deficiency as it then existed, and that the reduction then made in their salanes should be restored next year, and that as a matter of fact has been done. (Applause.) They could not pay more than they were doing m the shape of customs duties, and the country could not possibly stand any more direct taxation than had been imposed upon it. Under these circumstances, lie contended that tho course pursued was the wisest, and what was more, he ventured to say there was not a civil scivantbut should have cheerfully contributed his proportion to make good tho deficiency. (Applause.) Well, as ho had said, the deduction \\ as only to be for one year, and in reality it had expired at the end of the year. During the interim that elapsed until the end of that period, Government succeeded in other ways in effecting large reforms. Amongst otheis, they placed the

Salaries of Railway Employees on a footing of equality as between the wages paid to men in the North and those p<wl 222 the South. He knew there wore gentlemen in tho room, railway employees, to whom his conduct in this matter had been giossly misrepresented. He held in his hand the scale of wages adopted for all railways in the colony, and considering the price ruling for labor throughout the country, he contended that the scale was a fair and reasonable one. Then again they had to remember that this class of employees were more highly favored than many others of the laboring class, They had not broken time. They were paid wet or dry. He quite admitted that they had a grievance. At one time a difference exibted between tbo scale paid to men on the northern lines and those on southern lines. That differences, however, had now been done away with. He had himself been instrumental in getting that grievance remedied. Ho himself interviewed Ministers, and pointed out that the discrepancy which existed between the rate of wages paid in the north and the south was rediculous, and ho urged upon them the urgent necessity that existed for reform in that direction. The reault was that a uniform scale was adopted. He had it in his hands. It provides— The following- scale of pay for tho working railway stuff has been approved by the Hon. the Minister for Public Works, and its provisos are these : Those now receiving pay in excess of tho scale will not be reduced except where special circumstance may wan-ant and pay below the scale will be arranged to work up to it gradually during the ensuing 12 months. Privileges secured under previous arrangements will not be cancelled by this scale, That was the real state of affairs as it stood in connection with this question of railway employees. (Applause.)

The Education Question. In proceeding, the speaker went on to say : Another report which would seem to have been most industrously spread throughout the country and one at whioh he was very much astonish.^ was that he

had attempted to tamper with the educational question. If there were one thing more than another upon which he was thoroughly sound it was upon that point. He had both spoken and voted against the repeated attempts made to interfere with the vote, and on tho other hand his voice had always been given in favour of the maintenance of the system as it stood. [Applause.] How his enemies could have had the audacity to say that he had attempted to tamper with that vote, he was at a loss to imagine. For the benefit of those who were present, as also for the benefit ©f those throughout the constituency who would read his speech in the next morning's paper, he begged most emphatically to say that he had neither directly or indirectly assisted, nor yet in any other way attempted to tamper or interfere with the system as it stood at the present moment. [Applause.] On the very contrary, when he had last the pleasure of addressing them, he stated that he would not agree to any reduction whatever of the vote as it stood His opinions on that point were very strong indeed. To exercise the large political privileges that had been conferred on the people, with the intelligence and desenmination that was necessary, a liberal system of education became absolutely requisite. That was the opinion he had always held on the subject, and he could not be a consenting party to any modification on the present system. A very great deal had likewise been said about

Broken Promises. He had done his best to ascertain what these promises were. He was not conscious of having ever made a promise that was not either fulfilled, or at all events endeavouied to fulfil. He could safely assert that at least four - fifths of the piomises he had made had been gnen effect to, and as regards the remainder, he had done his best to give effect to them, but he found it quite impossible. (Applause.) So far as he had been able to ascertain, the gentlemen who charged him with these broken promises were men who had never at any time been supporters of his. They had supported other candidates, and he could only account for their dissatisfaction by their having i-nputed the promises and pledges given to them by their favourite candidates to him. These men had never got any promise from him at all, and how under these circumstances he could possibly break a promise made to them, he was altogether at a lobs to imagine. As far a& he was aware he had carried out the promises he had made, and if it did not happen to have been succossful in everyone of them surely he could not be blamed. Another matter he wanted to talk to them about was a certain telegram relative to the

Rotorangi Swamp Road. The history of that felegrain was this : The members of the Highway Board had an interview with him relative to a grant of money being obtained. He told them that as it was not a main road he believed there would bo considerable difficulty in petting such a grant. He suggested that the most likely way to obtain the gr.mt would be to provide part of the money themselves and in that case he believed Government might be induced to supplement the amount. He mentioned that a sum of £330 might be got in that way. He forwarded a communication to Ministers. Another gentleman then telegraphed to Government, and replies were &ent to each of them identically the same. The Litter stated that there was no money available for the road in question. This reply-telegram was bandied about on the Ohaupo lacecourse as another evidence of his broken promise, the allegation being that he had promised to obtain £1000 for the road. He gave them that as another evidence of what was called his broken piomises, and they would see from that alone that the devil was not so black by any means as he was painted. (Loud applause.) He had considerable delicacy in dealing with the question of his own virtues, but he could challenge contradiction when he &aid that he was not in the habit of making promises which he did not fulfil. (Applau&c.) He would further state for their information that when the gentlemen alluded to above— five in number — waited upon him and had transacted the business on hand they took their departuie, and he never asked one of them fora \ote. Indeed he never mentioned anything at all to them about voting. He had been told that these gentlemen had highly appreciated his forbearance on that occasion. | Applause ] He had seen a paragiaph in a paper published that day, which he was bound to contiadict. It alleged some kind of

Negotiation with Major Jackson, which he most emphatically desired to state had no foundation whatever in fact. The paragraph het forth that after a large and most enthusiastic meeting held in that hall the other evening, what was called a canous of hi 3 supporters took place, at which it was agreed that some kind of arrangement should be made with Major Jackson. Now he had to inform them that neither directly nor indirectly had any such thing taken place. Those that knew him best knew very well that such a thing could not have occured. It was not within the pale of possibility for him to retire in favor of any man, or even to listen to such a proposition. He had pledged himself to go to the poll, and to the poll they might depend upon it he would go. [Prolonged applause.] They had seen sufficient of him to know that whether he won or lost ho could go to the poll, and he could assure them that he would go and go on his own hook without reference to or connection with any other person whatever. [Applause.] That was a very fair sample of the purpose to which a certain paper had been put. [A voice : We get the paper free, and that's good enough.] Mr Whitaker : When you get something which it has cost a good deal to produce, what inference do you draw ? It showed them how much confidence was to be placed— he was going to say the statements of the gentlemen paid for this purpose — but no, he would correct himself and say the amount of reliance to be put in the paper in question. [Laughter and applause.] A good deal had likewise been written in the same print about

A Meeting in RaglanHe would toll them what took place in connection with that meeting. First of all he might tell them in confidence that there were 110 pollable votes in Raglan. He would also tell them that of that number he would poll 40. They would see he was correct when the result of the poll was made known. (Applause). The remaining 70 would be divided amongst the other candidates. He wonld now pioceed to tell them about the meeting, and in doing so, it wonld show them how these reports were cooked, and the true value to be placid upoa them. The meeting at Ragtau was

largely attended, and at the close of his speech, a Capt. Johnstone, who is tolerably well-known in Hamilton and who is afflicted with an unhappy habit of making himself disagreeable to everybody, got up. [Hear, hear, and applause.] It was not very long since he [Johnstone] was one of the very hottest amongst his friends, and he (Mr Whitaker) had taken a considerable amount of trouble from first to last with this gentleman. He had looked up a claim of his against the Government. A very difficult affair it had been to look out. It took a couple of secretaries ever so long to get all the papers looked out. They had extended over a period of 18 years, and that of itself would show them the trouble involved. Well, as he had said, he took all that trouble with | this gentleman. Not only that, but he recommended strongly that the prayer of his petition should be considered. Now for bis grievance. He had addressed a letter to me while in Wellington recommending that the young men of Raglan should be armed in consequence of some imaginary scare on his part about Te Whiti. It appeared that that letter had not been answered. That was the sum total of Captain Johnston's grievance. There were a large number of his [Mr Whitaker's] friends present at the commencement of the meeting, but they got tired with the long rambling address delivered by the gentleman named and the}' left the meeting. The resnlt was that when the motion about which so much has been attempted to be made was put they were all away. Another individual a Mr Wm. Johnstone a school-teacher over in Ragl.m district, a gentleman who by the way was not altogether unknown in this place also spoke at great length in support of the motion. Tho one occupied hilf-an-hour <md the other three-quarters of an hour. Between them they managed to tire out his (Mr Whitaker's) friends aud they had gone away. Tno resolution it was said was carried by 37 to 7. Now the facts of the case were these, and it could bo borne out by an independent witness present at the meeting in Raglan, the voto was carried by 10 to 7, and even that narrow majoiity was challenged by an elector present on the ground, that it represented a number of boys (Applause). Surprise had been expressed that he hdd submitted to all these newspaper misapprehensions being allowed to pass unchallenged, more especially as it was well-known that he was interested in the district journal. The fact was that he had all along 1 going upon the principles of fighting his own battle

Without Newspaper Assistance. He had never permitted one single line to be piinted reflecting upon the character of any of his opponents, or touching in any way upon electioneering matters. (Applauses). His friends had to some extent blamed him for the course he had pursued in that respect, but still lie did not care. He would rather submit to lose twenty elections than allow the gross misrepresentations he had seen in print to go forth to the public where he could by any means prevent it. [Applause ] Indeed the course he had taken all along was to obsen c perfect silence on the subject of the elections and fight his own battle in a fair, legitimate way. [Applause.] One or two departures fiom t'lat observance had taken place m the Wnihalo Times, but they were of no great moment, and he could assure them they were done without his knowledge and contiary to his express instructions. [Applause ] That was all he could say on that point. He would just refer to one more objection that had been made against him. It was a very absurd objection indeed. Although upwards of 30 years of age it had been alleged he was

Too Young for the House, and that he ought to have been content with les&er lepre&entatne honois foi some time to come. Thai was a most absurd objection, and was hanlly worth notice. A further objection was this

Family Relation. That, lie was the son of his father. [Applause.] Well, all he could say was that it was a wise bird that knew its own father. [Laughter and applause. | It would seem that he was one ot these birds, for he knew his own father. [Continued laughter.] Seriously, he thought they would admit that that was no great objection to him. Applause. He considered it to be an honor m&tead of a disgrace to be the son of one who had occupied a position of trust and responsibility in the public affairs of the colony for the long period of 40 years, [applau&c] and who, if he were present and made a speech, would command the most icspectf ul attention at the hands of them all. [Applause] He would rather lose his election a thousand times over than deny the relationship which had thus been sought to be made an imputation against him. JAjjplause.J He had a word or two to say about j

Native Affairs. He held in his hand a telegram just received from Alexandra, which showed that they had now fairly overcome the king country difficulty. He had all along approved of the action taken by the Government through Mr Bryce. It appeared to him that in justice to the natives themselves, the Government could have pursued no other course. It was a course which would be proved to be alike to the interest of the native and European. [Applause.] He had no faith in the cry raised by the jingo mob who would have them believe that the thing could have been done without mustering all the forces that had been done. Had their advice been followed he quite believed that there would have been bloodshed, as they might depend upon it that had a blow been struck by the natives the settlers themselves would have taken the matter into their own hands, and it was quibe impossible to say where the strife would have ended Moreover Government, was bound in honor to defend the Waimato Plains settlers to whom they had sold the land. [Applause.) Reverting to Tawhiao he said that the policy towards him had been eminently successful. The work had been, accomplished by the Government, ably assisted by Major Mair. (Applause.) After a lapse of 16 or 17 years, Tawhiao had been brought into the iSuropean settlements. That was a most important step. Since the year 1874, thousands of pounds had been spent in achieving that purpose, and now the work had been successfully accomplished. In further remarking on this subject, Mr Whitaker went on to say :—: — Mr Moss speaking on the action of the Government in regard to the native question In the House last yea* said : — "Ho considered that in these Native matters the House was being fooled, that large sums of money were being wasted, and that, 80 far from there i beipg any ad.van.cc. toward^ setifcaaextf

with the natives, we were now treating them in such a manner as to plant more deeply than ever the seeds of discontent amongst them. He would like, if it were possible, to have the House taken down there co that honorable members might see the natives themselves. Then he knew they would come back with very different views. He said this because he lived where there were natives, and he knew how ignorant the House was kept of the state of feoling amongst them. See how much was made of Tawhiao's visit to the Waikato, where he went and played a game of billiards with Major Mair ! He (Mr Moss) knew Major Mair, and resj pected him, and knew him to be a valuable officer, but this visit of Tawhiao only meant that he was not going to fight. At the same time his ovhati was stricter than ever. While Tawhiao came in and paid us these compliments the Minister for Native Affairs knew very well that he dared not put his foot on the other side of the aukati line, or take the Htnemoa into Kawhia harbor and attempt to land without a considerable force to back him. And yet honorable members weie taught that the mere fact of Tawhiao's coming in was of so much importance." He (he speaker) entirely disagreed with this sort of statement. He believed at the time that the visit of Tawhiao was pregnant with the utmost pos sible importance to the whole colony at large and to this district in particular, and he had seen no reason since to alter that opinion. (Hear, hear.) He read the following extract from Hansard of his reply to Mr Moss :— '• Mr Whitaker would not have said anything about this matter but for the fact that he represented a constituency situated upon the very boundary of the king country, aud was consequently deeply ' inteiosied in the matters to which the ! honorable gentleman had referred. He I was not present during the wholo of the | dlscusson, but from what he was able to gather he inferred that the honorable gentleman had spoken disparagingly of the work that was now going on in that part of the country. He certainly understood the honorable gentleman to have said that all the fuss that was being made about Tawhiao and Major Mair was nothing more than bombast, and that there was nothing in it. That was the substance of what the honorable gentleman said. Now, he (Mr Whitaker) was present with the honorable gentleman at J the meeting at Kopua, and he could bear I out the statement made by another honorable gentleman that it was impossible for him (Mr Moss) or anybody else to obtain an interview with Tawhiao. He was not at this time going to say anything about what took place at that meeting, but there was certainly nothing done there that reflected any great 1 credit on those who went to 6ee Tawhiao. He knew that on one afternoon there was very great difficulty in getting the natives to reassemble at all, and that the then Premier and others were walking along the banks of the Puniu all the attornoon in a state of great anxiety, waiting for the natives to nome back. The lesult of the meeting was that the Euiopean party came away without having achieved any advantage. But what did they see now ? They saw Tawhiao going through all the Waikato settlements and being treated with the gieates!; good leelnig by the settlers ; and he could not allow that treatment to be received with a sneer from the honoiable gentleman. He had received telegrams and letters infoiming him of the success of the reception that had taken place in that part ot the cli&tiict ; and w hen communications from such a quarter said that the operations in the king country had been successful, the statements of the honorable gentleman to the contrary would not go for much, particularly when it was remembered that he could not get an interview with Tawhiao at all. He thought the greatest possible credit was to bo attached to the action of Major Mair, to whose efforts the present successful results were largely due. He would ask the Committee to remember this : that in the constituency which he had the honor to represent they had maintained hitherto a force of two hundred cavalry at their own expense, a force which had been rendered necessary by the attitude of Tawhiao ; that a large constabulary force had had to be maintained on the frontier to protect the count! y ; and that the danger had been a great source of annoyance and a diawback to those who lived in that part of the country ; and he claimed that the people there understood the value of Taw hiao's submission. He did not think the honorable gentleman's speech would be received with much favor in tiiat quarter, at all events. He could not allow the opportunity to pass without saying that he felt peifectly confident that the verdict throughout New Zealand with reference to what had happened in regard to Tawhiao would be that the ' let them alone policy ' of the present Government was preferable to that which he must 1 call the ' interviewing ' policy. " Thib \> ad what he had said at the time, and results were confirming his judgment. He would read them a telegram showing to what extent the new condition of affairs as between the races had reached. They would i see from it that it was possible now for policemen to go into the king country and arrest criminals in their own kaiangas, and under the very eyes of their chiefs. (Loud applause.) [The telegram referred to will be found in our issue of to-day.] They had heard about the king country as a place where the Queen's writ could not run, and that was the case until veiy recently, but he had shown them that this was the case no longer, and that the Queen's writ could now run through the j " king " country. That was why he had read those extracts ; that was why he had given them his views upon the question, so that they could not say he was wise after the event. He did not wish to detain them any longer, but he would like to tell them an amusing little anecdote which concerned a prominent canvasser of one of his opponents. This

PersonalThis gentleman, speaking to a supporter of his, remarked that he was tired of hearing him (Mr Whitaker) talk about the "bill of indictment," and asked if there was any other reason than that he had been in the House before why he should be returned. His (the speaker's) friend replied "Yes; because he is the best man." The gentleman first referred to sUid that was the best reason he had heard, and remarked that Jte was a pity Mr Whitaker had not urged it. He (the speaker) could tell them that the hour and the man had- arrived. He had no doubt that the gentleman he referred to was present, and if it would satisfy him he would at once say that he believed he was the best man of the three candidates by a long way. [Applause.] He said this more to oblige the gentleman h.e I'cfevre.d to thm because fee

possessed any spirit of egotism. And now, having dealt with those httle matters, he would conclude.

Conclusion. In 1878 he was warned by many of his friends to look out for Hamilton, that he was not so safe there as he thought he was. Again, in 1879 he was told that the Hamilton people were crooked, and would not stick to him, but when the poll was declared he had a majority of 100 [applause], and he believed that the applause he had just heard was an earnest that the result of the poll would show that the people of Hamilton would not allow him to suffer the disgrace of not having a majority in the place in which he lived. [Applause. 1 It mattered not so much whether he was defeated on the general issue. The other candidates were gentlemen esteemed in their own districts, and no doubt the people of those districts would respond to their invitation. Should it then be said that those people who were of the district in which he [the speaker] lived refused him a majority? (Applause.) There had been nothing in the whole contest to throw discredit upon him, and he asked them to reflect upon this. Into their hands lie entrusted his honor, and he was confident that on the polling day he would receive it back untarnished. Mr Whi taker sat down amid loud and prolonged applause.

Questions, &c In response to the invitation of the chairman, Mr M. Brown asked Mr Whitaker if he was in favour of the beer tax. Mr Whitaker said he voted for the tax, and were the colony in the same financial position again he would vote m the same direction. Beer was a luxury, and should be taxed before the necessaries of life. If it came to a choice between the beer tax and the property tax, then he would be in favour of remitting the tax on beer, and if the revenue returns were as favourable as he expected, he hoped to see the beer tax reduced, if not altogether remitted. [Applause.] Mr Brown asked if it was fair to return the 20 per cent, taken off salaries of £800 a year, while it was returned in the case of men on 6s per day. Mr Whitaker said it certainly was not fair, and if he knew of a case he would take action, but he certainly did not. Mr D. D. Hyde made a long speech' on the subject of the song of old Colonists, with which Mr Whitaker said he entirely agreed. Dr. Beale asked the candidate how he reconciled his Tote on the Beer Duty Bill with his desire to support local industry. Mr Whitaker said his impression so far as duties were concerned, was that ardent spirits and beer, which were to bo considered as luxuries, should be taxed first, before articles of daily consumption. In the case of the beer tax a necessity arose for increasing the revenue, and it was bettor to impose that tax than to put a duty on the necessaries of life, although beer was a local industiy. That was the correct view to take, and ono endorsed by the leading men of the day. Applause. Mr W. Simms asked whether the candidato would, if elected, endeavour to alter the railway tariff, so that the Waikato f aimers could compete with those nearer Auckland ? Mr Whital-er said ho had pome time ago had an interview with some Te Awaimitu faimeis upon this subject, and had interested himself to get all the dn+a possible. He had been in communication with Mr A. Y. Macdonald, and hoped before long to give them a practical as well as a verbal answer to the question. — Applause. Mr Slater asked the candidate if he would use his best endeavours to get those people recompensed who had lost so much by having their cattle killed on the railway owing to the line being unfenced. Mr Whitaker said that in conjunction with Mr Whyte he had already taken steps in this direction, and that if it were possible to obtain redress for these people it would be done ; but of course he could not promise to do so, because he himeelf could not promise the £300,000 necessary. Mr Webber wished to know if Mr Whitakcr wouid do his utmost to redress the wrongs ot the T'.uihaK.i natives. He quite approved of the action of the Government, but thought neveithelcss that the natives had suffeicd great injustice. Mr Whitaker sud he had stated in other places that ho would not agiee to the le-confiscation of the lands given back to the natives by the West Coast Commission. It would bo unjust, and so far as ho was concerned they might depend upon it that he would resit-t it within reasonable pirty limits. (Applause). There being no fuither questions, Mr M. Brown pioposed a vote of thanks to and confidence in Mr Whitaker, which was seconded by Mr R. Laud. Mr W. M. Hay moved as an amendment, that the words "in the past " bo ' added to the motion. Ho said ho would refer to a statement made by the candidate regauling certain telegrams. Now he (Mr Hay) had sect those telegrams at the instance of Major Jackson. It had come to his and others' knowlengo that certain members of the Pukeknia Highway Board had interviewed Mr Whitaker with a view to getting a giaat for the llotorangi swamp road, and on the following MoDday he be?rd that one of those gentlemen had gone on the Sunday to a settler and endeavouied to influence his vote by telling hi;n that Mr Whitaker had got the money for the road. Major Jackson and himself met and he said they would have to fight against this. He telegraphed to the Government to know if there was any special vote for tho work or if the money could be obtained out of the vote for roads in native districts, and received for answer that no money was available for the work. They heard that night that copies of these telegrams had been sent to Mr Whitaker. That, he contended, was a violation of the secrecy of the telegraph office. Mr Whitaker had no right to get such copy, because he waa no longer a member of the House. Mr Whitaker, in explanation of what had been stated by Mr Hay, wished to say a very few words. He would ask | them to bear in mind this : He was the first person to communicate with the Government on the subject of the swamp road, and the reply he got from the Government was not a copy of that sent to Major Jackson. On the contrary, the Government sent Major Jackson a daplicate of his [Mr Whitaker's] telegram as a matter of fairness, he presumed, between ono candidate and another. His telegram did not come ! from the telegraph office, but from Mr Oliver direct, and therefore Mr Hay's statements abont the violation of the secrecy of the telegraph office was simply a mistake. (Applause and laughter), E(e bad, neves anofcen, to any

person directly or indirectly about getting a grant for the road, but ho did subsequently hear that Mr Hope had ntated that he (Mr Whitaker) had promised what he conld not perform. (Applause) Mr E. Wilson seconded the amendment. On being put to the meeting the amendment was lost, and the original motion was carried by a large majority, amid applause and cheers. A vote of thanks to the Mayor for prosiding, moved by Mr Whitaker, brought the proceedings to a close.