Page 3 Advertisements Column 3

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2329, 14 June 1887, Page 3

Notices. ls rpo THE ELECTORS OF WAIKATO b Fellow Electors, — '» Parliament has been prorogued, ii . order that an appeal may be madejto 'tli if country. A General .Election ;isj there 1 t. foi'e impending, "and at the request of i L . number of Electors I beg to offer yoii-nv services. j * The appeal now being made .to tin 0 country is as to whether the cxtravaganci F of the last fifteen years, displayed! by al e parties and all Governments—and,; I maj '• add, by nearly all our Legislators'—shal be continued.; or whether we shall, as i country, recognise our true financial ppsi n tion, and, by a supreme effort ,'swee'f away the traditionary ideas of the Parliamentarians -mentarians of the past, and insist, r oi s that economy in public matters; whicl: - all who wish to pay 20s in theipounc b are now exercising in their privati affairs. . . Of what the result of tho appeal,will be 1 I have no fear. i ? The people of New Zealand will ;be true to themselves, (to their children and to their destiny, and will insist on return- _ ing men pledged to lay the axe to the root _ of the tree, instead of merely lopping ofl f the twigs and branches. • j What is our position to-day ?—A mere handful of people—C7B.ooo—we have a ' national debt of £3'2,000,000, which is t draining the colcny of £1,764,793 this year for interest and sinking fund. Be- - sides this jvast sum, the cost of governi an,ent for the last year was £1,673,950, giving a total cost of £3/438,743, j which I the taxpayers of the colony are compelled to provide. This huge sum is quite indei pendent of the cost of Local Government, which is itself a heavy burden—on the country districts particularly. i • ; The actual number of producers in New Zealand is usually estimated at; about 160,000, and upon them, in some: shape or other, this terrible burden falls.■ What wonder that in this country —despite its-fertile soil, healthy climate, and rich and trade stagger under the burden and our population does not increase as it should ? We, in the Waikato Electoral District, have suffered keenly, and are feeling the iron hand of the depression. Between ISS'2 and. 18S5 the rateable values,of the Counties of Piako and Waikato aud the Borough of Hamilton, decreased by £356,057 ;• aud I am assured they have gone down at least another £100,000 since ISSS. These figures show that the landowners of this Electoral District are, on their own valuation, poorer by nearly half a million of money than they were five years ago. [Waipa decreased during the same period £61,071.] To what is this attributable? I may say at once I blame almost exclusively the abominable system of railway, management—high freights aud fares, and an obstructive policy which has prevented settlement, absolutely stopped the sale of our lands and caused the stagnation which prevails. To prove ,this, I.may point out that the following counties, none of which-are so favourable to settlement as the Waikato .district, ALL iSIIOW. LAEGE IXCR.EASKS 111 rateable values, namely : —Mongonui, Bay of Islands, Wliangarei, Hobson, Rodney, Waitemata, Eclen,- Manukau, Raglan. I repeat, the railway'charges are almost entirely to blame for our position to-day. I believe that had the Waikato representatives in Parliament given that attention to railway adminstration which the interests of their districts required, by urging on' the House with all the energy they were capable of, the disatrous effects of the present railway policy,— the farmers of Waikato need not to-day have been driven out of the Auckland produce market ~by .prohibitive railway freights; whlist cheap railwayfares would have induced settlement, and by causing the sale of land would have maintained the value of securities. | The platform oh which I stand for election is as follows : — 1. Radical reform of the whole railway policy, and sweeping reductions in freights and fares. 2. Drastic Retrenchment in every branch of the Public Service. 3. Vigorous protection of industries which can be established or fostered by that policy. 4. Reduction of the House of Representatives to not more than 65 members. The honorarium to be reduced to £150 per year; no extra pay for more than one session in the year. 5. All Education beyond the Fourth Standard to be paid for. Receipts: from Education Reserves to be colonialised and devoted to primary education only.! 6. Free railway passes to members of Parliament to be abolished. 7. The present Legislative Council to be swept away, and a new Upper Chamber to be constituted, to consist of 30 members, two-thirds ;to be elected by the colony on the Hare system ; the other third to be elected by the House of Representatives by ballot. No honoraritim to be paid the Upper Hpuse. 8. Lastly, I cordially endorse the attempts being made by Mr Ballarice to settle the people on the land, though in some respects his scheme. could be modified and altered with advantage. I hold that the highest function of statesmanship is to promote settlement, and my voice will always „be raised, whether in Parliament or out "of it, against! land monopolies, which I hold to be inimical to the best interests of the State. : ' The above are the views on which I invite your support,' and I will addi that whilst I am favourably disposed to the present Government, in opposition to Major Atkinson, whose party, when in power for a long period, sowed many of the seeds of which we are to-day reaping the harvest, measures, rather then "the. men who propose them, will decide my course. I should feel it to be my sacred duty to promote the interests of my constituents at every possible point, and all the energies I possess , would be placed at your service to try and raise this beautiful district, in which I have made my home, out the " rut " into which it has fallen. I shall'take early 'opportunities of stating my views fully at every centre in the electorate, and meantime, Beg to subscribe myself, Youi* obedient servant, G. W. RUSSELL. C Cambridge, June 11, 18S7. ELECTION. MR RUSSELL will address the Electors as under . Hamilton East, at Le Quesne's Hall, on Monday, June 20, at 8 p.m. Ladies arc invited to attend. rriO THE ELECTORS OP WAIPA -*• AND WAIKATO AND PUBLIC IN GENERAL. . , The uudersigned begs to inform the electors and general public, as well as all his old friends, that, having taken over the old-established and well- known COMMERCIAL HOTEL, TE AW AMUTU, he trusts, by strict attention to business, keeping nothing, but the:best brands of Spirits, and a first-class cuisine, to receive a fair share of patronage, i The establishment will be under the pergonal supervision of ' . , YouW-truly, A. FORBES,; Proprietor. N.B.—Good Sample Room for commercial travellers. Saddle horses aud buggies ' on hire. Telegrams receive prompt tionFOR SALE, first-class Table and Seed Potatoes, guaranteed equal to , last year's ..crop,. per ton,, , delivered on lioard i^ajnpr. ; jfßags ektraili '■ , : JAMES BROS. .June, 1887,