MAJOR JACKSON AT HAMILTON.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1876, 15 July 1884, Page 2

MAJOR JACKSON AT HAMILTON.

M.vjok Jackson addressed the electors of Waipa at the Public Hall, Hamilton, last night. Theie was a very large attendance, the building being completely filled in every part, and his Worship the Mayor was voted to the chair. The Chairman briefly introduced the candidate, who, on coming forward, was received with applause. Major Jackson said he once more appeared before them os a candidate for their suffrages and he would tell them at the outset that if they did him the honour to return him, ho would go to the House prepared to vote upon every question that arose upon its merit*. He was not under the control of any patty, either inside or outside the House (Applause). He would endeavour to make himself understood as plainly as possible, but if there were any points requiiing elucidation he would be glad, at the close of his address, to answer any questions they might put to him. He read a list of the subjects he intended, amongst others, to touch upon, and these included Representation, Separation, Waste Lands Administration and Education. When the Act which fixed the piesent lepiesentation was passed there was some little slir, but justice was not done. Greater consideration should have been shown to the Native population in the North, and the Act should have contained within itself the machinery necessary to effect a leadjustment of representation. It was not impiobable that when the time came for a readjustment the South would make use of the power she now had to keep the preponderance with herself. Ho was of opinion that when readjustment was effected it should be done, not by inci easing the number of members iv the House, but by transference fiom one island to the other. Concerning the question of Separation, it had been said that the South wanted it, but ho did not belie\ c this. No doubt it was a good election cry to say the South ■was cairying the North on its back, but it w.ii not real. Ife was not possible to his c separation. As his opponent had said fouly, the public creditor in England would have something to say before he allowed the socuuty to be split up. It might be, how e\er, that the South would insist on the passing of ceitain legislation which would bo embitter feeling as to make sepaia^ion the only outcome. He hoped, howe\er, th.it better counsels would pie\ail, and that a Ministry would be fonuecl winch would deal out justice to botli^ inland ■>, and .so hasten the tune when New Zealand might truly bo called "the Biitain of the South." (Applause.) He would now touch on the subj -ct of the Waste Land-. Boards. These bodies, he thought should be moie local m their cluiaclei and ought to bo partly elective. Theie were ir.embci » in Auckland who knew very little about the-requiie-mints of this distnct, for instance, and the constitution of the boards should tlieicfoie bo altered. Some advocated that the boaids should be composed of the chaiimen of road boards. Such a scheme would at any rate bring Uio two bodies uioio into accoid. And while on this subject he would say a woid about the county councils. He did not behove m two bodies each levying ta\es on the samj land (applause), and he was of opinion that they could do without the counties. The other candidate, who \va, a lu»h county authority, ought to ha\o enlightened the electors on tin-, subject, but he had neglected to do so. He might tell the meeting that in the couise of his travels the lemaiks he had heaid concaining the county administration were anything but complimentary. (Hear, hear). Refeuing to Oxown lands he was of opinion that only the good land should be set aside for the purposes of settlement. The inferior should bo set aside as endowments for the local bodies foi the pin pose of making and keeping in repair roads, bridges &c. Theie was the Hamilton budge, for instance. In a few yeais it would call for a Luge expendituio. Though the endowments he pioposed might not be of great present value, in a few yeais they would probably return a handsome revenue. It had been said that he was not sound on the Education Question, when he came befoie them three years ago. Ho told them that he was in favour of Education fiee, seculai and compulsoiy. He was of the same opmio.i still. (Applause ) He knew that theie weio enemies of the system who said that it was only a question ot tune befoio the sy-tem must fall, that it contained the elements of its ov\ u destruction, that it was too expensive. All he could say was that when the t.mo did co.ii') wh vi a i eduction m the expe'idituie was linpoi.itlUN he would advocate beginumg at the t)p. He would comuuucj with Miiging, chawing, and other fancy accomplishment-. lnd"cd, he had no objection to see a iiimvc made in that daemon forthwith. Notwithstanding tin-, a eh innel must be left open to eu.iblj those childion who arc, clever to fit themselves to occupy any ollice in the institutions of the countiy. ( Vpplan-c.) Who, he would ask, ought in take, such an inteie-t in the a (fans of the county as those bom on the soil? (Appliu-e.) Regai ding taxation, he thought they had about leached the limit. He did not like the piopeity-ta\, but he liked the land tax still less. The land was giving a very pom letinn, and could not stand any moie bin dens at present. A good deal had been said about the bur-ting up of large estates, but if there was not some gieat impiovement in farming, these estates would buist up of themselves. [A gentleman in the audience made seveial remarks, but was silenced when the speakei told him he would attend to him when ho had finished speaking.] Railway s weie a necessity to a young and progressive country, and should accompany if it did not precede settlement. Now that the owners of land in the "king' countiy had agieed to open it up it would not be long befme the trunk railway was completed. Unlike the other candidate, who favoured the Mai ton lino, ho preferied the Sfciatfoid loutc. The Stiatfoid Lne would bo moie oasilv and cheaply made, and did not run through so much pooi land as the other, and would besides bung them into communication with the West Coast. The Wellington people would favour the Mai ton line, while the Auckland and Taianaki people would be in favour of the Shatford lino. Railways were not always made up >n their merits, but for political reasons, and these were the most convincing of all reasons. It was quite possible that the trunk line would be decided on such grounds. There would be a Wellington paity and an Auckland party, and in considei ation of conespondinec advantages being mode to the South, its niembeis might join one of the two parties, and decide the route without reference to the inteiests of the colony. He thought the constructed lines should be fenced. Many a sh uggling fanner had suffeied considerab'y by having cattle and hoises destroyed. (Applause.) It was simply duo to the watch t ulncss and care of the railway employe's that these accidents did not occur more frequently. He did not consider that the railway tariff was regulated to the advantage of the class that most supported it — the farmers. Farm produce and material used by fanners, such as seeds, manure*, etc., should be carried at much lower rates than at present. The present tariff he considered prohibitory to a great extent. There weie a great many just complaints under this head. The taiiff legulations were of a most complicated character ; indeed, they would puzzle a Philadelphia lawyer. They could send goods from Te Awaiuutu to Auckland cheaper than from Te Awamutu to Otahuhu. There was surely something anomalous about this. Again, he had been told that it cost more to send 500 ft. of timber by rail than it did 2000 ft., the latter number coming under a reduced rate. These were things they could not well understand. The Government had been advertising a bonus for the first 50 tons of cheese produced in the colony sent out of the country, and sojd at a remunerative price. The Te Awamutu Cheese Factory had sent 20 tons of cheese to Auckland, and the freight charged was about £50, This is what the Government called encouraging local industry. Instead of allowing local produce to be carried at the loweat rate they charged the very highest. At; present it was the large centres of population that were deriving all the benefit from the railways ; but they should keep in mind that if they bear too heavily on tfle country settler he may be driven to feck some other calling, in which case it would not be long before the effects would be severely felt in the towns. The last time he.had the pleasure of addressing them, some three years ago,- he congratulated them on early prospect of tbo Rotor-ua railway being completed. He was sorry this line had not made the advance it ought to have made. The Government, he considerpi, had not given it the consideration which its importance demanded. .He was glad to fee that the Cambridge railway would soon jle opened ' for, , traffic ; and -■ when, the great jtrujak line was completed^ through i the $png, Qupntry ? >,and' the; Mornpfiyi|{<j 3 a!n<| ( fOWw^J^Qh^s'were-m' workings" ty-der, 1 it-

revenue of the railways of the North IsLand particularly, and the colony generally. Touching native land courts. There had been a great many complaints in the past about the manner in which the native lands of the colony had been pa3sed through the court; but all the scandalous proceeiings which characterised the past were not experienced under the present arrangement. The courts were now worked under a new act, framed specially to meet all the objec-tfj tions complained about under the old law.™ The native land was passing through the court at Kihikihi under the new law, and everything was in order ; and .there were none of the scenes taking "V^ice which had been so graphiq£lis~* cjescribsd, and none of the scandalous proceedings peipetrated which had occasioned so much just complaint during the sitting of former courts. Absolutely no charge could be made now against the woiking of uative land court. The natives had their land passed through the court without any encumbrance whatever, the title was fixed, and the native was in a position to deal with whoever offered him the best terms. He was not quite clear .that the Land Court as at present constituted with all its attendant expenses was necessary. There were people who thought that if the " king " country, which sooner or later must be adjudicated upon, wore subdivided into districts, each district to be under a commissioner whose duty it would be to make himself acquainted with the rights of the natives, the proper parties owning the land, &c, the question of settling the title to the land might be more economically and satisfactorily arrived at. He would instance the labours of Sir William Fox, the WestCoastCommissioner, underthe West Coast Settlement Act, which he characterised as very successful. Same similar arrangement would he thought be found to work successfully throughout. Considorable discretionary power could be given! to those commissioners. With regard to the proposed land bill he had a few remarks to make. He had not seen a copy of the bill as yet. Ho understood its object was to secure the, pre-em ptive right to the Government, the Government to buy such land as they requited and then dispose of it by auction through the Waste Landbßoaid. He did not think there were many who would advocate the resumption of pre-emptive right. It had been tried in the past, and had not succeeded. The Government enjoyed all the power s under the Public Works Act that were conferred by pie emptiye right. He would instance the cisc of Pdtetere, where the Government having made advances was obliged to abandon its hold in favour of private enter|T se. With regaid to the native land being sold by the land boards, he had no objection to that so long as it was made pjrmi'.s.ive. Hp would like to know the •opinion of those at piesent in favour of this bill after it became law. If this bill passed, tho opening of the King Country and the making of the Trunk .Railway would be indefinitely postponed. The natives were dissatisfied with it, and afraid of it, and they thought that the next move would be in ' the direction of wholesale confiscation. The land courts were at picsont working under the new act and giving every satisfaction, and the least they could do was to give the Act a fair tual. Tins perpetual tinkering with the land laws was irritating at once to the.;* natives and Euiopeans. Whoever they(| honoured with their confidence at the poll, it would be for him to bear in mind that the upciations of that Act extended over a very large portion of the district which he repieseutud, and would materially affect the welfare of tho district, whether for good or bad, and it would be for him to ■jCive the native interest ab well as the European m a matter which concerned the intcie^t-1 of both lacos alike. With regaid to the San Francisco mail service : Attempts had of lat j bsen made to abolish this useful and beneficial service. He would do his utmost to keep that service afloat and maintain it in its usefulness. It was of great service to the colony generally, and was yeaily decieasing in co-,t, and it piomised before long to be self-supp.nting. Respecting the honorarium, he thought it was quite right that members should be recouped their expenses, but he did not think the honoianum should bs so large as to induce people to seek election to Par'iunent purely as a source of livelihood. Respecting the constriction of loads and bridges in the district : Let those who had representations to make on these, matters, put their \iews or lequests on paper and forward them to him, when he would bring them bifoie the piopor authorities, and ha\ c them attended to. He did not think he need say much on the subject of protection. Protection, he considered, would not be to the interest of New Zealand ; it would not advance it commercially. In the matter of immigration, if assisted immigration was at all necessary, he would be in favom of the nominated system. Respecting fi deration, he did not think it would bo good for Ne\*| Zealand. He thought New Zsaland would get on better without it. If they combined with the other colonies they would be a irure unit, and would have very little to siy in tho management of federal affairs generally. It appeared that tho^e who were canvassing for his opponents had been making use of cci tain statements or arguments against him, which were intended to induce thooe to whom they were related to vote against him. They had endeavoured to show tint he was everything that could not be desired as a (andi late : in fact, that he was a very bad inaa, and evei) tiling that was wiong. All hj could say about his opponent was that he knew him to be a thorough gontlem; n. But if he (hig opponent) was a gentleman, that was not to say they should not vote for him (Major Jackson). If they thought he would not make a good member, well they had their option, don't vote for him. (A Voicd : Dress him down while you are at it, Major ) No, he did not know anything bad about him, and therefore would say nothing bad. The great objection which had been paraded against him was that he was connected with a land company. Well, he would tell them all he Knew on this matter, and then they would know as much as he did about it. When he last addressed them there was a gieafc feeling against the piactice then prevalent, of laige moneyed companies securing huge tracts of country from the natives— that while the natives were dispossessed of their lauds, very little of these lands fell into the hands of the small farmers. It was impossible, considering the cost of negotiating, &c, for the small farmer to compete in the land market against the big speculator, and when acquired these lands were invariably held for speculative purposes. Is ow that the King Country was about to pass into the market, the feelinsr that some better state of affairs whereby the bonil fide settler^ should have a chance of securing the land direct from the native shouldß prevail, became prevalent. For many years he had enjoyed the confidence of the natives, and the question had often been discussed as to the best means of Riving bona 4 fide settlers an oppoitunity of acquiring what land they required. Very laige and valuable tracts of country were proposed to be dealt with, and 'in order to have these lands opened for bona fide settlement a much larger capital than was at his disposal was required, hence his connection with the company. But this company did not purchase an acre of land until the title had been ascertained and the land passed through the court, and all land 3 disposed of through its agency would he sold by public auction, and in such lots as. to smt all classes and conditions of men. Ihe title to the land having been acquired, the company, at the request of the natives, would undertake to dispose of it under the agency of the joint directory -and a committee of native owners chosen by themselves and company. Their first duty would then be to set aside ample reserves, sufficient for all possible requirements, the balance to be leased or sold in suitable quantities. One of the planks- in the ulatform of the present Government was tti.» it would wind up as soon as possible all all these land transactions, with a view to relinquishing for ever all dealings in native lands. That determination had met with the approval of the natives, who felt that the Goverment would then become an impartial party to settle all disputes between them and European companies re land transactions. The natives were desirous of placing their lands in his hands for disposal on terms that, which they would receive much more consideration for their interests, they xvould at the same time pay him well. mis was how his connection with the com- fl panynad been brought about. His connection with the natives and their land had b.een paraded as his great sin. During his candidature three years ago similar charges had been made ' against him in an aggravated form. He then stated he was in no-way, connected with native land transaction*, . and that if they found him to be~in any w»y possessed of an interest- they* could" tell 1 him and he w^uld at once have givenMf.up; Had they ;eleotedihnn, they' ooiild hive* depended upon. .qimsc*rCTtag l ,oufc,bJg^proinise to the -yPFytleJjte^ *:fHe hatl nev,er in. any 'dealings 1 ' •undertaken

KSa*BSSJrg6mia6fM i r¥gapeotabl6 metnber of society and a peaceful settler, but now he was everything that was invidious, and a grabbing, greedy landshark. It did not seem to" matfcmvhat position, social or public/iimsuMngy have held, for as soon as he got himself in anyway connected with native Jand he was at once proclaimed as a BcaXmdrel of the deepest dye. But through all this, t no dishonourable act could be Charged against him, nor did ho intend that there ever should be. It would be his endeavour to bliow that native lands could be dealt with as honestly and fairly as any man could deal with European land. If the present Land Bill became law they could depend upon it he would respect the law. He had been .stigmatised as the " everlasting candidate," but when he next addressed them he hoped it would be as the eveilasting member. (Hear, hear, and cheers). It would be his eai nest endeavour, iE returned, to do nothing which could bring down upon him the displeasuie of his constitutnts, but ho would be found to conduct himself inside the House and out of it in such a manner as not to cause them to regret their choice. (Loud applause). In reply to questions. Major Jackson said he was neither a director nor a shareholder in the East Coast Land Company. This announcement was received with loud cheers. He consideied the present Go\ eminent had done well for the Noith Island, and paiticularly so for Auckland. Should they meet the House and occupy the Treasury benches in the new Parliament, it would be his pleasure to give them his vote and support on all measures for the ad- \ ancement and welfare of the country. At the same time he would leserve the light to do what he thought proper. He hoped the question of North and South would not be pushed to extremes for the piesent, for the Noith in such a case must gv) to the wall. (No, no). Yes, for the South had 19 votes more than they had, He had never purchased an acie of native land dming the recent sitting of the Native Lands Court at Cauibndgc. He was merely acting for the natives. He behoved Mr Bryce's policy was good up to a ceitain point, and that was when he commenced to touch native land. He would vote for the land bill made permissive. He did not '"think the countiy wanted pie emptivciight, when asked if he had e\piessed himself against Mr Bryce's native land policy, he said, that that was a pcisonal question. He would pledge himself against any fiuther scheme of extiavagant boi rowing. They had the remedy in their own hands to put down the veiy prevabnt system of getting upsweeps tin oughout the colony. If they had not pationised them newspaper* would soon cease to ad vei tise them. They w ould stick to the Education Act as it is. Mr W. Wood, ascended the platform at this stage but the meeting ief used to gno him a heating. Mr Wood said it was always the way of the woild, the poor must stand back. He did not wish to insult Major Jackson ; he only wished to enlighten the man— ln reply to Mr J. I. Camp, the candidate said he would be in favour of an amendment in the Licensing Act giving county councils the power to regulate publicans' license fees, so that a house doing a big b.u tiade would not be only paying the same fee as a Louse kept purely for the accommodation of traveller. —He was not in favour of any paiticuLir body leeching particular aid fiom the State in tho 'matter of education.— Mr Davis complained <>f the piesent system of r.itni". The man who nnpioved his town acie enhanced the valuoof his neighbours unimpiovcd acie, and had to pay moie rates m piopoition to his improvement-. The candidate thought the cause of complaint was to be attributed moie to the \aluc than to the law. He would be in fa\ our of the lailways of the colony being ve-ted in a mm political board. Tho lailways were conducted foi political pin poses "incs])ecti\c of the requhement-, of the sen ice. This greatly impaiied the efficiency of the sei vice. Mr Deegan pioposcd a \ote of thanks to, and confidence in Major Jackson. Mr Oaldciwood seconded. Mr T. d. Sandes piopo-ed as an amendment that a \ ote of thanks only be, accorded Major Jackson for his addiess that evenMi Caldeiwood said he would second that too. Mr Camp seconded the amendment. Fouitecu hands wcio held up in favour of the amendment, and about twenty-five in favoui of the onginal motion, which ft as declined c.une<l. This hi ought the meeting to a close. Mr Lake at Ohaupo.

Mr Lake addie^ed the "SV.upa elcctoif. at Oli.mi"), on Satmd.iy, and lecenwl a vote of confidence.