ELECTION NEWS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 2366, 8 September 1887, Page 2

ELECTION NEWS.

Mr Teasdale at Hamilton. Mr Teasdale addressed the electors of Waipa at the Court-house, Hamilton, last night, his Worship the Mayor in the chair, who introduced the candidate in a neat and appropriate speech. In spite of the inclemency of the weather, there was a very good attendance, the Court-house being nearly , full, and many standing in the porch. The candidate, on rising, apologised for his youth and inexperience in public speaking, but continued in the following happy style Mb Chairman and Gentlemen,—l am a candidate for your suffrages at the request of electors from all parts of the district. The position is not one of my own seeking, but if you do me the honour of electing me as your representative in Parliament I shall gladly do everything that a man, holding decided Liberal views, may do to further the well-being of our country in every practicable way. A friend writing in The Waikato Times considers that I am a square peg in a round hole, ami' thus, perhaps unintentionally, gives- me credit for great ability, seeing that it must require considerable smartness to maintain such a position. Public affairs having got into a state of complete confusion, it is necessary that you should return men with practical ideas, and a little new blood might revive the energies of our Legislature. The' Financial Position

of the country is naturally the most prominent subject at the present time, and therefore I wisli to begin with that. We have heard very much lately about the “roar for retrenchment.” I think we shall have to take care that the roar docs not frighten away the few financial friends we have. Does a man in difficulty rush round in a state of semi-madness and tell all his creditors that he is mined, until he has at least made a manly effort to recover himself and pay his way? Is it any wiser to so act on the part of a nation than on that of an individual? I believe the constitution of the country is financially sound, but if we should be led by bad advice to persist like, some young men in sowing wild oats, the day of reckoning cannot be far off, and the bill will be a heavy one. Taxation is, of course, the form in which we personally come in contact with the public finance, but many of us do not realise the weight of the burden on .account of the indirect method of collection by customs, duties. If when we went to a store we had to-hand over from fid to 2s to a customs officer (with his blue coat, brass buttons and gold laced hat) for every shilling we spent on. certain articles, we should then. understand how . large a portion of the cost of Hying went for governing purposes and not to the producer and retailer of the goods. This is what we really do, but we do not see it because the dealer pays the duty, and adds it to the price of the articles. Many people did not really know ' that -they paid taxes until they heard of the- Property Tax Collector. f 1 This Property Tax is a fine on thrift, because for every pound a man saves, and for every improvement lie brakes in his property, he has virtually to pay a fine, not once but every year he lives. This is quite as bad, and must in the. end have the same effect as the rack vents which proved so disastrous in older countries. It l is monstrous that the industrious and provident man should thus he fined for his virtues, while bis lazy and improvident neighbour escapes in the present, and will probable leave a helpless family unprovided for, to add to the burdens of his self-denying, and long suffering neighbour in.the future.) The sooner such a tax is abolished, the better it will be for all honest and hard-working 1 men.- A much fairer way arid one I would: support, would be to levy a tax on the unimproved value of all land, which would fall equally on the settler arid the absentee and on all incomes above a certain amount. You will all agree with me that Cheap Money

is the prime factor in the removal of our financial difficulties. When banks and loan companies can pay 15 per cent, besides working- expanses, it is evident that the borrower has a hard time of it. How is ■ this to'.be; remedied ! Why, by a State Bank which I maintain.would quean, with proper management, the saving to ourselves oLthe greater part of the interest now paid to those whose only connection with the country is for what they can make out of it. - The sneer about the “ bale of paper and the printing press ” is not more applicable to the State Bank than tn the ■ present banks, whose notes are ouly_ valuabldfin that they represent securities required by the State before they can be issued. In the one case yon have the security of a limited number of shareholders and in the other that of the'whole community,. The alternative scheme of Government burrowing money and lending to settlers at low rates of interest is simply an imperfect form of a State Bank. It is i naturally in connection with unr financial position that the question of . , Retrenchment I comes to the front. As I said before, I behave thpre is some danger of this necessary step being made so prominent for party purposes as to become a source of serious injury to the colony; and, while admitting the "necessity and, calmly considering; every practicable way of checking unnecessary expenditure, we must use every care to prevent this “ roar ” from injuring ns at home or abroad, and so making what should be a remedy, a worse thing than 1 the original disease. I fancy some of our would-be statesmen are like a poor swimmer out of his depth, in danger of losing .their presence of mind, and by hasty and ill-considered actions throwing away our only chance of . financial safety. I allude to such things as the proposal to immediately stop all public works now in progress, which, whiio it might check fnrtherliability, would certainly leave , us with a large capital locked up in unproductive works,-because unfinished undertakings ; laud for this practically useless capital we must continue to pay interest \vithonfc.the opportunity of recouping oursef ves. ijut therg arc ygry many ways in

which we can check the present exhausting drain, and amongst the must prominentia the reduction of our fearfully overgrown Civil Service. It cannot be denied that wc are very ranch over-governed ; onr executive machinery is too large and costly for the work it has to effect. For instance, wc have still in existence one department that has become quite unnecessary ; I mean the Native llepartment. The natives arc now few in numbers, and ought no longer to he treated as a people separated from ourselves. “Equal justice to all men” is a true Liberal watchword, and class or race distinctions are opposed to this ; and this department should bn totally abolished, native alfairs being attended to by the several departments which the like matters for the other inhabitants of onr country.

Representation. is the next point to consider. Men of all parties seem to agree that the number of onr legislators might bo greatly reduced, not only without injury, but to the positive benefit of their work. It may not Impossible to reduce the members of the Lower House, for fear of injuring tbe country districts ; but if it could be done with fifty members in the Lower House and twenty-five in the Upper House to check hasty legislation, wo ought to be able to frame good and workable measures for our present requirements, which is more than we seem able to du under present conditions. The Honorarium is another opportunity for retrenchment. The members of the House of Representatives should have £l5O to cover expenses, owing to the unavoidable neglect of their private business, and the members of the Legislative Council must, I suppose, be allowed £IOO for expenses, but I think these honourable gentlemen, being men whose position places them above need of financial assistance, should be content with the honour of their position ; and I believe if the honorarium were abolished, so far as councillors are concerned, there would be found a sufficient number of patriotic men to fill the Council Chambers, and they would in no way be inferior to the present occupants, and might perhaps be, in fact, almost the same men. While speaking with all respect of our present useful and popular Governor, lam sure we cannot afford any longer to offer so large a salary, and wo could have a gentleman in every way qualified for onr future Governor for £SOOO per annum. The Ministers might bo reduced both in numbers and cost. It is absurd for a colony with a population so small as ours to attempt to maintain so extensive an establishment in this respect, and to pay salaries nearly approaching those given by onr wealthy Mother Country— England. With a Premier at £IOOO per annum, and three or four other Ministers at £BOO per annum, the work in the bands of competent men might be thoroughly well done. The

Civil Service Employees are like Sinbad’s nld man of the sea, a burden under which we stagger along, vainly protesting nnr inability to carry it a step further. This must be changed, not by reducing the small salaries of the men who do most of the real work, but by reducing the overpaid officials, and entirely cutting off all ornamental members, and they are now not a few.

The Education Department is one in which great saving might be effected, without in any way injuring its practical efficiency. The educational endowments of the colony ought to be used for the purpose of primary education only. The question as so whether this education should extend to the Fourth or Sixth Standard would then become quite a secondary one, the endowments relieving the expense. 1 think that the Sixth Standard should be within fall reach of allonr children. Higher education, including that of the universities, should be paid for by those who desire it, the State however making due provision for any of its young people who showed exceptional talent, if they required assistance to continue the career for which they were plainly fitted. One university in each island would be sufficient, and could probably be supported—if not, one must suffice for the whole colony. The various education boards should be abolished, tire Central Board alone remaining and communicating direct with the local committees. The inspectors would then be Government officers, as in England, changing districts from time to time, thus securing uniformity of system and doing away with all suspicion of favoritism, to the great gain of true education, and the removal of much quarrelling and dissatisfaction. Public Works.

These cannot be brought to a sudden stop, hut it is necessary, under present circumstances, that we should limit expenditure to works now in progress. A sudden stoppage would not be retrenchment, but collapse. Many of onr railways which are at present spoken of as non-paying lines are so simply because they lead to nowhere in particular, and until they are properly connected they will remain unproductive. It will therefore be necessary that these sections shall be joined to form the main trunk Hue as rapidly as our resources will allow.

Railways. There is no doubt that the management of our railways could be very much improved by simplifying the classing of goods instead of the present cumbersome tariff, which the officials themselves have the greatest difficulty to interpret. For instance, you can send two tons of potatoes from Te Awamutu to Lichfield for the same price, or even less than one ton. Vaile’s Scheme.

I am in favour of giving Mr Yaile’s scheme a fair trial. The committee appointed to inquire into its merits by Government reported in its favour, and the principal objection against it was that it would be an experiment, and might result in loss. That is an objection that could be raised against every invention, and if carried nut in practice we should come to a standstill. What if the trial wore successful? Mr Vaile shows that it may he, and I believe him. Kveu if it were not, the experience gained would be worth the money. Every Government tries [jet experiments or fads, and often with greater risk than this, without the public knowing anything of the matter until it is too late, but until we can get Vaile’s or some other scheme the tariff must be considerably modified. It is all very well to tell the horse to live until spring and it shall have grass—it must be fed in the meantime —and in the same way the productions of the country must he carried at the lowest possible rates until Vaile’s or some other scheme has been actually proved, or there will soon be nothing to carry. At present the vital thing is not cheap passenger fares, but cheap carriage of goods and produce. I never could see why an iron road should be expected to pay a profit and a metal road not; both come out of the public pocket. Out of £37,000,000 of borrowed money, only £13,000,000 has been applied to railways. The greater part has been spent on roads and bridges, from which there never was any return. I maintain if they were rim just to pay working expenses the result would he settlement, and the wail of depression would cease to perplex the land. I would not consent to tho sale of the railways, as T believe they should belong to the people, but I would take the management out of the hands of the Government of the day and put them in charge of a board of practical business men. The time will come when the railways will be of v.ry great value.

Defence is an item In our national affairs that demands a few words. Some of our wouldbe leaders advise us to abandon all defence preparations as unnecessary. I wonder if they are prepared to be consistent, and abolish the magistracy and police, and leave ns to the tender mercy of our domestic foes as they would to that of our foreign ones? To say thijt we are pot likely to be thought worth attacking is surely to estimate ourselves at a very low figure indeed. We can no more do without defence works in these days of annexation and aggression than we can do without locks and policemen, if we possess anything worth stealing. But our defences need not be.made an excuse for extravagance, they must be sufficiently complete to be useful, but uv cannot afford to make them ornamental ; and I think the public will need to watch closely that no expenditure is allowed for either works or men that are from a practical point of viow simply ornamental, tn carrying out this work it will bo necessary to prepare beforehand for the evil days, and we shall then escape those panics which have afforded an opportunity for extracting from the public purse enormous prices for land required for military use, as, for instance, the Stark purchase.

Local Self Government. Local bodies are too numerous, and the number could with advantage be reduced. 1 lit.* number of membt-i- of county councils might be increased, and the bn-ine-s of roati boards, Licensing Commissioners, Watte Lanris Hoards, and similar Ueiie- be undertaken by them. I iliink charitable aid and hospital matters -ii eild continue to be administered as at |.re-eal. as the board is virtually compo—d , t! uo.-moers of the various county councils. Native Lands. It is of the first importance for the prosperity of the country that the title to Native Lands should bojindividnili—d at once. One of the great obstacles to progress, es(iecial!y in thin part of thecohmy, is that so much of the best and most accessible land Is in the hands of a few wealthy individuals or companies, who are able to keep it Ivins idle until the labour of their smaller neighbouring settlers has made it valuable, and the monopolist steps in ami reaps where he. has never sown, f cannot help feeling that much of the delay in dealing with Native land titles is not in the interests of the natives themselves, hut in that of those who de-ire time that they maybe sure of getting the, best portions of tiie lands in question, when they can be dealt with. In the interest of the natives thems-lves, snllicient reserves to support those now living should be made and rendered inalienable so lons as any natives survive to use them, these reserves becoming Crown lands from time to time as the natives died out. General.

The great want is neither retrenchment, cheap money, or Vaile’s scheme alone. These are all parts of the real wantpopulation, and to attract tin-, tho liest lands should be opened up on liberal terms. Mr Ballanee’s Village Settlements are a step in the right direction, if carried out judiciously by planting them on good land and in accessible places where the settlers would be able to live when Government aid ceased, which, I am afraid, will not be the case with the present settlements. I think Sir George Grey’s Bill much better, as all men like a freehold, and his bill provides the issue of Laud Bonds for amount of purchase money being the same as a bank note butjcarrying interest, which gives the settler money for building improvements, and I would snpport it. It gives a chance to break up monopolies. This is said to be its weak point, as it gives room for log rolling. The way to prevent this is to send men to Parliament who are not given to such practices. 1 would support any law that would help to till this land of ours with a prosperous and therefore a happy and contented people. The resources of tho country are enormous (from my eight years’ experience of mining at the Thames), this is not political claptrap but real facts. We have ore which is almost useless in this country, for which (he Germans give us £43 a ton, and we have coal in abundance. Coal has been the foundation of the wealth of every nation where found, and will yet be ours. When farming has revived and become payable, we could not have all our children farmers and traders. Manufacturers are necessary to the prosperity of the country, and in connection with this we want to get all the foreign capital we can, but if we can get the capitalist to it. it would be still better, and I think that inducements should be held out to such men to settle amongst us ; and all possible encouragement should be given to those willing to embark in manufactures.

In Conclusion, I repeat that you should send to Parliament practical men—men who are untrammelled by old party ties. In fact, yuan',' Xew Zealand is coming to the front and will bo heard, ami if I am returned as your representative. 1 shall ever he found with the great Li;- al party of economy and progress, and, as a beginning, I would vote to oust the present government and put in a new party, which would carry out the measures I have indicated. Questions.

In reply to questions, the candidate stated that he was against the pre sent (bivernment mi the ground that they had so mined the credit of the colony at home that wo could not borrow any more, but on being pressed he said he was against borrowing, except for the completion of unfinished works. The real ground of his objection to them was that he was no believer in leasehold, but felt to the bottom id his heart that every man should have his freehold and sit under his own vine and fig-tree. He knew from his own personal experience that it was very' hard for a poor man to get land. He would not reduce the standard of education, but would apply secondary endowments to primary purposes. He was a freetrader, but would support industries, especially gold - mining, bv bonuses. There was protection already to the extent of llij per cent, to JO9 per cent. M hy should lialf-a-do/a-n be prelected at the cost of several thousands'; He would not protect fruit-growers, as there was too much fruit grown already. He Would do away with the property tax, and put a graduated tax on the unimproved value of lands, dividing them into three classes.

He was in favour of a .State Bank of Issue.

He would not reduce the pay of railway employees to that of a farm labourer. He said the men employed on the railway held responsible positions. He was not in favour of reducing wages at any time, and that all farm labourers had the same chance as other men to get employment upon the railway. A vote of thanks to the candidate for his interesting speech was moved by Mr McPherson, seconded by Mr Jones, and carried unanimously. In returning thanks to the meeting and the chair, Mr Teasdale apologised for the nervousness inseparable from a first appear ance, and expressed his sense of the friendly reception he had had, where he had expected a rather rough handling.

After the meeting a strong committee was formed pledged to return .Mr Teasdale as the Liberal member for Waipa.

Major Jackson at Te Mata.

On Thursday evening, September Ist. Major Jackson addressed a very wellattended public meeting here, which was held in the school-room. Mr Austin was called to the chair. The Major's speech was in most particulars the same as given in other centres, and seemed to impress all present with its truth, as being,one of a thorough practical nature. A few questions were asked, and answered in a satisfactory mariner. Judging from the enthusiastic manner in whioh lie was received, it seemed that most present had determined to snpport him at the poll. Mr J. H. Phillips proposed and k Mr J. Galvan seconded a vote of thanks and confidence in Major Jackson, which was carried unanimously.

After returning thanks the meeting separated.—(Own Correspondent, Haglan, sth September, ISS7).

Major Jackson at Ohaupo-

Is consequence of some misunderstanding about the date of this meeting, a paragraph having appeared in the Herald that the meeting was called fpr Friday, veryfew electors turned up at the tie”, advertised—4.3o o’clock—and at 7 o’do; k Major Jackson apologised for the misunderstanding, and although only a few people were present he decided to address them, ■stating tiiat he would take another opjsirtunity of meeting them, and would make the time 7.30, as he had been a-sured tins would better meet the convenience of the settlers. Before proceeding with Id.address Major Jackson altuucd to a letter, appearing in a local paper, signed “Xgaroto,” the writer taking exception to some remarks he had made re a former letter also signed “Xgaroto.” In his speech at Hamilton he had ascribed the authorship of the first letter as probably the production of the proprietor of that journal. Ho was sony if he had given credit to the party not entitled t° it, and although the “skin might be that of Esau, certainly the voice was that of Jacob.” “Xgaroto” having challenged him to meet him, he inquired was Mr Xgaroto present, and lie intended asking that question at every futnre meeting. Should “Xgaroto” be desirous of questioning him, he would he happy to answer any reasonable question, but was afraid be could not arrange a special meeting at Hamilton to suit “Xgaroto.” He Would, however, be happy to meet him at Hamilton on nomination day, together with hi< principal, whose interests be 1“ Xgaroto" is anxious to serve, hence his letter er letters. Major Jackson then continued his address, which was in most re-pv elsimilar to that delivered at Hamilton and elsewhere.

The only question pat was “I)o you Ihink it is right that the same man who

value- under the IV-perty-tax Anj- nt Act shmid also collect the rate* for the local belies?” Maj.-r Jackson replied that this was purely a local matter. If the pr..;eily was valu-'d too high, tiiev had the remedy m their own hands. If the local body employed an improper (agent, the ratepayers mould take care to return -uch members as would protect them accin-t any Injustice from this -ourre. No further question* (s-mg ‘put, Mr K K. lo,ter proposed a vote of thank- to the candidate f..r hi- address. Seconded by Mr \V. J, Hunter. Major Jackson trop.-ed a vote of thankto Mr J. I*. L'lwards iwjio officiated as chairman I, and took the opportunity of pvm S notice that he would addre-s a meeting of the elector- at the Cambridge A\ est School-house on the evratag of Friday. September 10th (nomination da"y.)

Mr Campbell at Raglan.

On the evening of Thursdav. S.-pteuJier I-t, Mr r,.,i|,!e-!! red bis second address here, the meeting being h*M in tire Court-h-ei-e, Tie- Ib v. 11. Stephens..n occupied the chair. Tier number of those present was veiy limited, not more than five or sir been present at any time, Air Canif Je-II ppsceed**d to complain of the lep r! made by the Alexandra c rre--pmdent of his -] *• hj lie re, jiubli-h*-d in your i-sue of the i>;;,d „lt. “it was said he would not greatly retrench in the education vote’ whil-t he had said he would retrench up to seventy or eighty thousand pound-. Al-othat he approved of Ballanee's »illage SeUJcment Scheme. Lit he stated at all his meetings that he did not approve of Ins scheme, b-cause itdid not enable the occupier to own the land," and further he said he was not in favour of Vaile'n Hailway Scheme," while m all of his meetings he staled his entire approval of it. He then proceeded with bis address, which was nearly the same as delivered before here. He said he was n>»t une who cared much about the distinction of Con«jrvative and Liberal, oiilyjif the good CSnvernmcnt of the country is obtained by tho.ne in office. He was a Uu*r<msh liberal. He was in favour of great reductions in the education system, and thought the system«»! committees the best. Ih-ih*cl< *r> should follow each other all round the colony. He further dwelt on prolection, sj>eaking of prison manufactures in .Vineric.i. He was in favenr of reciprocity treaties with all parts of the Hritbh K mpire. In L‘lid.”l we had an milimirt-d market all the year round fur our y.vvi-, Ac- He would give a piece of land to n-iug men when of age, and give them a Crown grant after residing on it for the time stated, and also lend them money up to"* I«r cent of its value at-o jmw cent, intere-t. He was in favour of a land and income tax. and of a State Bink: also of penny insular postage, and two pence in the colonies, and a threeqienuy ocean jMistage. In answer to questions put by Mr McCracken, Are yon in favour “fan acreage rate instead of an ad valorem rate? I have stated I am in favour of a tax upm the natural value of land. lam agaiu-t any form of taxation upon improvement-. Are yon in favour of the pre-ent jury system? Whilst paying the coroner the jurymen get nothing for their services. I think when coroners bold other offices they should be without jay. Jurymen ought to receive payment, for their services.—You say you did not believe in I’allanco’s scheme. Ho you know there is a difference between the Village Settlement and Special Settlement schemes.—My objection is against leaseholds. All settlement should be lia-ed upon the land becoming fhe property of the occupier.—Are you in favour of stoats, weasels, etc. ? No, I have seen the destruction in the old country they are to fowls, etc. —Kabbit Insjiectors should be done away with. Men get Ks per day for-limiting rabbit*, and do very little for it, etc.—Are yon in favour of the Prohibition Laws? Certainly it is in the hand-, of tho j.e.,p!e who have the local option law to ■: irry it out.

Mr Svphei sin : Would you make the qualification t • vote in the local option residential ;

I would l« in favour of both men and women voting, both should have a vote. An hlector ; You 'late you are in favour of protection. J l.i you not believe in carrying out the Holden Kile ill this matter? f would protect to a limited extent on a few articles, etc lam a free tiader etc

Ho you believe in immigration into this country ?

\ es. when the labour market is not supplied, not otherwise, as A). men are not remuneratively employed. Mr McCracken proposs..J and Mr Frissel seconded a vote of thanks to .Mr Ompbcll for his addre-s.

A vote of thanks to the chairman Concluded the mvting. Mr Campir-II then reque-ted any to -lay beaiud who wished to I-rai a committee on his behalf.—town Correspondent, ath •Scptemiv r.

Mr Ormond at Naoier-

f«V TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATI'CC.] Xapiei:, Wednesday. Mr Ormond had a big matin'; last night, and sjn.ke for two and a-half hour-, his speech being voted ‘•dry. " He slated the Ministry jb. justify his --pp—its n! on their neglect of their pledge to rejK-al the pro-l»erty-tax and neglect of retrenchuient «n their railway policy and land schemes. He thinks a property-tax of a penny would not injure the colony if fixed for a number of years, and says we can t stop borrowing until the railways are completed, and money must be had to ojwn Crown lands for settlement. He approves of the idea of Sir (!. Grey going Home to induce capitalist farmers to come out, and would offer them inducements of cheap land on long - deferred payments, but with freehold eventually “no un-Knglish jierpetual lease humbug.” The Land Acquisition Hill he declares a bogus pro|tosaL He pro;>oses to cun down expenses of administration freely, and j<erhaps raise the schwil age to six and reduce the capitation to £3 las, which is found enough in Hawkes Bay. lie would shut up the Xative Department, and stop jjayment of rates on Crown and Xative Lands. He was listened to very quietly, but with more interruption than applause.* A vote of confidence, contrary to fact, was declared carried, there being a large majority against it

[by TELEGRAPH.—OWN" rORREsroSHENT. J Paeroa, Wednesday. It is stated that another candidate will come out for the Tauronga seat against Messrs Gill and Kelly.