POLITICAL LIBERALS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 2939, 16 May 1891, Page 4

POLITICAL LIBERALS.

Tii Till; MUTiiK. Nil:,-If two men content the Te Aroha ~ ;,t ai,.l Din- wan to say hi- was a. LiU-rul nn<l tin-other t(is:.y he wrisa Tory, the cine who wan a Liberal, no matter I,o* iiliiMii-iil he was, would be sine to go m; and the lory, no :natt--r how truly Liberal lie w.is, w,.uld not be the winner Lithe wnrd Liberal are compri-huided all the many and gnat slrin s which have bieii limit- in New ZvibnU during ll\e List >i.*.tien years. The word Liberal has a magic inlluinee, and like all manic is slriiii. The infl'ienre the word has uri.-s fruin the >.ii;>;>!>.-;itio>i that Liberals have bi en tiu instruments which pro-nii:t--t"l lil-t-rty. pro.'ifc. s, murcy and .justice, and tint the Tories hue been those which Upt th'sc blessings from coming r.jon.-i-. Mr 1-Mitor, this ia a delusion, and the <~,oner this delusion is exploded the better it will be for the people of New Zealand. Forty-live years ago the pocket boroughs with old Sanim at the top were in existence. At this same time the tranchisu was limited to those who paid £10 per annum of rent to those who h:i:l an equivalent in a freehold. Liberals will admit that this franchise was in t.hi-ir eye.s a Tory franchise ; at lor at they will admit it was a franchise which, to their understanding, would keep back the blessings of progress from the ninny. That is a great delusion, as I will show. If we take what had been done under this supposed Tory franchise and compare what has been done since the franchise was made Liberal, we will see that what was done previous to the extended franchise was so great that it completely overshadows the little that was done since. Anyone who knows the political history of the last fifty years knows that, is so ; the deuce is, very few do know. Mr Editor, under the sup lmai-d Tory franchise, what baa been .lone. I will tell you. Tho capital crimes have been reduced to one ; men are no longer hung in hatches ever> . Monday n,orning in front of Newgate for stealing a handkerchief, or a loaf oi bread, or a half-crown. Can what has been done, since in iho way of a merciful criminal code compare with that , .' During that supposed Tory franchise the damning crime of buying and selling human beings has been blotted out of the British possessions. Since the franchi-se has been extended, can philantrophist.point to any act of Parliament equal to the doing away of slavery ? During that .supposed lory franchise, the Catholic, Jewish and Dissenting disabilities were clone away with. Since the'franchise ■was extended, has there been any liberty of conscience equal to that ? And last, though not least, and perhaps the greatest of all, tho Factory Act was made law. Mr Editor, to all such as were born within the shadow of a factory, as I was, to us this Factory Act is the great humanitarian Act of the nineteenth century. Wo can tell and did know of the horrors undergone by children of very tender years, and also by boys and girls and grown-up women. "We know what they suffered previous to the Act being passed, aud to the everlasting shame and disgrace of the Liberals this Act was passed by the Tories in face of the determined opposition of Liberals in the House of Cominoii.'i, with John Bright as their spokesman. If God was not all mercy, He would have blotted Manchester out of existence and turned John Bright into a pillar of salt. Mr Editor, after what I have said I hope the Te Aroha electors will be EO impressed that the word Liberal will have lost its magic and influence over their minds. With year permission and indulgence, I will now tell the Tc Aroha electors what concerns them in the present, ami indirectly how this present will affect the future. Very likely the Government will strain i nerve to get in

ii candidate who will lie one of their :reporters. Now, what is the strong j.hii'ik upon which the Government rely lo l;ccp them floating in oifice ? It is* .iik-tiuiting a land tax in place of the just and equitable property tax which wu now have. One of the argumeut* made by those who would substitute the Olio tax for the other is that the present tax keeps out foreign money. That is sillv preposterous fudge. The tux is no clement in the question with enpit-di-ls coining here and founding In,mi s for themselves ,-uid families. Did l!;.' |,r;ipMty tax l;t-<"p Mr Allen from b'.-.y'iii; 'Aiiiianciale and bringing hi>. famiiy'to it ? But the Government relief ii]f,vc upon the popular but mistaken lvuon tint the big estates should be Imr-.t up, and that the land tax will do ho. When it does burst up the big estate, woe! woe! woe! to New Zcal.r.nl. The big estates have been and aiv the Kiilvalio'i of Nnw /calami. What w-pii|,l uo lie withuul them? Wool is the la;,l;l<oiu; v. liich t;iippoilx New Zealand, and in the mainspring which kot.pt it going, but that, is too intricate and f.oi,' liiiyu a question for the understanding of the many. I will need to take a lniirr simple ex))!anation in my support, of the upholding of the l»if* estates ; upholding them' till tliry dissolve of iheiiim-lvMby natural lawn. To tin; poor m:in who thinks it beautiful to have the big elites burst up ho tin! he may get a bit of land, 1 would s.-.y, thst witli tinbi" elites not Irn-.-i np, li:<-re i-. n hope if heso miiri,-, Vir.l l>- • ki Imvc ;iii<l g..4 a pi.M-c ~f h;ii I for !■<■' iitis L . 1,,I-.-., ,■,,.,! Hilary if'll t!-i; I.I,: l- r ':iU-s tl. bii;, l.nid. 1 :\<k ■■ii >■■■■■■ ■ u h a thin.-hnpp'-M in "iv /-.i'-fid ;"■ a poor m.n. rariiin , .: ::o;nv IVom a siivill man >o a.s ' iiMblc' him to liny hind V 1 would teil : , ■ oooi iiia'i, as yet and for a long time 1.. i rome t-lie Miipply of land i:; more, much iiioi-f, than i:i wauled to supply tlic Mrekers who want laud. Why. nearly tlu* whole of Wuikato is lying ready for these poor men ; there is Government hind, and there is land held by absentees, who would almost i;ive it away, With I he big estates you can have your little t':tate.s, because you can earn mouey to buy such. Without the big estates you Mould not earn as much as to buy a :,tiek of tabacco. I have lived in a new country where there were no big (;atates, What a blessing it would have been to the people of that country if they had a few big estates. Why, their hardships and privations would have been nothing—and their hardships and privations were great. So great that tlu , people here, with the big estates to help them by giving them work and pay, can have no idea of what these hardships and privations were. It is said by these land taxor.s and by the disciples of Henry George that because God made the land the laud belongs to the people, Of course, if this false doctrine is to be carried out. it must be carried out in its entirely. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. I will, therefore, brinj; it home to the miners of To Aroha how"" this doctrine will apply to them. It will not he denied that gold is landto all intents and purposes as far as this doctrine is concerned it is. If, therefore, a prospector should discover a rich claim, like what the Caledonian was, that rich claim should belong to the people, and i; he .should sell it to ,i company at a sum which would be n fortune to himself it •will, aeoordinc to the doctrine of the land tjxers, bo that hid fortune and the fortune which the company will make will 1), :.-.;il' to the people, and not to the pi'.i-|ii'clor and the .shareholders. Will ,'lr .Seddon, the Miniver of Mines, admit that this should be so. If he do on not, i/yti i: i.-i admitting thnt lie is both ilSr>: ; i.;.il nml inconsistent in hi"! politico "n r.ct, it. i" tlr.t he will h.ivc n;ii' Ir.v lor tlio lii:(llonb, raid anothrr law f(.r l.'.'i ciuistituonls, the minora of tin , \V.\-.t C'ur.st. Mr I'Mir-v, no lntrr tl ;i:i yi-t. flay i lifud ,i -hvt nf an t.!d ■,i , t.i light my pipe with, When fwiioii'ir.tc, I hnpp'iiul to look at the u-maiiider of the sheet, and what did I i.■lid V I read a speech by Mr to his would-be oi c:vn -::tod ■ '.o - be coiistitucnts. That piicech was the , usual speech made by V.il-ernb. all about a land tax and hursuJ,--- ii|- ..■;" I. estate?. Well, Mr D:\v--\-\i-.lt ov.Uj ix fonjit and Laa a taw-mill Ly

which he has already, or intends in the future, to make a fortune. Now, man did not make the trees : the timber was there without mnn. It was <io«l who made 111<■ In (•■>■ Clearly the timber stood in tin; same nl.ition to him as the land did to the owners of the bi<r estates. I wonder it did not strike Mr Dnrgavil'c if the f irtune made by the landlords belonged to th>> people ; that it also did not strike him that his fortune made by the forest did not also belong to the people. Why, upon the same principle as advocated by the land taxers. the butcher, if he should tmike a fortune, that fortune should also belong to the people; the butcher did not malic the sheep and bul locks. No doubt this bursting up of the big estates looks beautiful, but looks are very deceptive. We want practical reality and not false appearances. I would ask the miners of Tc Aroha how it is that tho labouring man in the farming districts does not cry out for the bursting up of the big estates. I will tell the miners why it is. It is because these men see both sides ; th'.y know that it ; s not all gold that glitters, and they know that getting possession of a bit of land is not a very inuch-to he-desired possession. I know a man from the West Coast who came here seven or eight years ago and got a bit of land four miles from here. He came with a few hundreds of pounds ; he stayed here a few miserable years and then left for the West Coast penniless. That unfortunate miner was the ontcome of the cry of settle the people upon the land. Miners of To Aroha, your Liberal candidate will be a protectionist, here in New Zealand all, or nearly all liberals are protectionists, but true liberalism and protection are as far asunder as the two poles. What does Protection mean ? It is that your moleskin trousers, your picks and shovels, are to be charged two prices, so as to benelit the few at the expense of the many, queer liberalism is it not? Electors of Te Aroha, if your Liberal candidate conies from Auckland, he will if allowed -steer clear of the subject of Free Trade. If hard pressed, he may tell a political fib and say he is a freetrader. If so, just ask him if he is a free trader. When the battle ot Free Trade and Protection was being fought, ask him why he as a public man did not raise hia voice in favouv of Free Trade, ask him why did he remain dumb when the iniquity of protection was being forced upon the people. Miners of Te Aroha, there is on", man who if you sponstaneously of your own cecord elect, viz., Mr Bruce the rejected of Egmont, you would do yourselves good. He is a determined free trader and he would fight your battles and would take care that you would not be still more robbed by fighting against what will be tried, that is, still more protection and consequently more price added to your picks, shovels, and moleskin trousers. If you are wise you will look to your own interests and elect him.—Yours truly, Harapepe, May 7th, 1891.