POLITICAL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue LXVIII, 15 October 1914, Page 5

POLITICAL.

THE EGMONT SEAT

MR. ASTBURY AT ELTHAM

Mr. D. L. A. Astbury, Liberal candidate for the Egmont seat, addressed the electors in the Town Hall( Eltham, on Wednesday evening. There was a fairly good attendance, and the Mayor (Mr. T. B. Crump) presided. He said the campaign would to an extent ba overshadowed by the greater battle that was being waged almost throughout the world, in which the British Empire was engaged fighting for the upholding of the ideals upon which its very existence was based. He trusted that the present political campaign would be conducted fairly, and that Mr. Astbury would be accorded a patient hearing. Mr. Astbury, who was received with' applause, said it was with a measure or distaste that he was entering into the political arena at this particular time m the history of the Empire. He realised to the full, with the other members of the Liberal party, that at the present time the British Empire was engaged in a contest of life and death, and.it appeared to him that it was at least a pity they were entering into a. political campaign, and thereby straining in a measure that teeJmg of union and bond of sympathy which they had towards one another in their attempt to break down the German military power, and therefore it.-was with a consiedrable amount of distaste that he entered the political field at the present time. But the' war lords of New Zealand, as represented by the Massey Administration, had decreed that the election should' go on, and they having thrown down t^e gage, it had been accepted by the Liberal party, and of necessity the party was engaged in the political contest. The European crisis marked an epoch in English history, and he with others, wished to see the Allied successful in this war, and hoped it would be a prelude to a better understanding with the world's powers, and that never again would the horrors of war—the devastation, the misery, and the disorganisation of trade—be experienced. In New, Zealand, within, the last twelve months, there had been an INDUSTRIAL STRUGGLE,

which, he supposed, was the keenest that the Dominion had ever expefi'enced.' It commenced with a- small union of shipbuilders, who believed they had been unjustly treated by the TJmon Steamship Company, (and,' failing to obtain redress, they amalgamated with the Watersiders' Union. The trouble developed to a big strike, which led to a considerable amount of bitterness throughout most of -the classes and masses in New • Zealand. Had the men in the first oasis confined their grievances betw.een themselves and the shipping company \ concerned,; , instead of .drawing other workers into ' the trouble, he believed they would have gained a large amount of sym-^ pathy and support. Mr. Massey and I his pnrty claimed credit for, haying settled the industrial trouble, but it seemed to him (Mr. Astbury) that the real deciding fa6tor was that the country people found themselves compelled to use force to get their, produce away, it being absolutely essential that the produce should be got on to the boats, so that-farmers arid factories could meet their financial engagements. Labour would be j well; ad-' vised if in any future strife, it 'endeavoured to obtain redress of grievances by constitutional means, namely, through the ballot-box.; This was the. proper way to. have wrongs righted; but if force were used, it must of ne-/ cessity be met witli force.-

TORY INSTINCT

Mr. Astbury considered it hopelessto expect progressive legislation from the gentlemen who to-day occupied the Treasury benches:, He.- would be almost as much -surprised; tot see ..». porcine creature playing on a L grand j piano the classical music of Beethoven |.or Chopin, or even the simpler melp-: dies, as : ito see' the Reform Administration playing tne classical pieces; of pi'ogressive" legislation or the simpler melodies loveci "so well by; the people. They, could not do it because, in ; the opinion: of the. speaker, their associajiioris; the circles in wmch they: Uyed, men born with thei purple robes of wealth; who had- never known I the stress .of Tibour or the mentai •anxieties; most people had suffered in rthe struggle t<> get living^ irica- ! pacitated. them from taking the ■ ihitijative: to introduce legislation .haying for its object the welfare and the benefiting of the whole of the people of ;;the"., country. : They had,- so" far as he;, could judge, that Tory instinct; that' love of "■ class arid caste privilege," which in a greater. degree .had beertc the cause of yhe trouble in Europe to-^i day. It was not the industrial pdiv tipri of the German people,; but the privileged and wealthy /elates!;-who': were at war with the JBritish Empire to-day. In New Zealand Toryism represented in } the Reform party, tinkering with legislation;:;'riot passing any- progressive measures 1 in the interests of the people as a. whole; i but merely marking-time with legisla-; j tion. which was, ;.^ally,.:;fpr'^vthe/--.-.Kel[iter-i'.' ;riient of the .wealthier;{classes.' '■:l(Ap7"' I plause.); a'par.tyjpoliii i ticiarij but rid ; stiatesmanK ;Hisi Jong':' j training in_ Opposition| jhadjtiughtryhim; party tacticSi put it- had;,not gi^enihiin^. the capacitycfor iristitutirig^sja like legislation/ Small/; aciabri^'bf^^ii!; showed what the man !'>\^as,Ctand^ .^hisy action.in ; tKe name Ypf- the; ) Ministerial residenc© in WelUngtqn "to : Arika-Toa > ; 4meaning >; J ■'.'., Chief," ■ was typical of him. Be XMri^Astbury) Tvas informed "first ; hand ! that; - when "fteTiVj^ig t^AiNJiafTe Garden Sbcial1 on his last visit up hbre, he iwas asked K^ 3, set+ior for an intrpdiictipri Mr-; , Wilson; MiP. for Taumaruriui, because tHp ird'"vidiial...aslp>g- fdr the introdue- ., iaon said he would like to hieei^the> man who had iVeatPTj Mr. Jennings^■? the late.- member. Mr. Massey's :re-" ply was > "I a?u the man who beat' 'Mr. Jennings." Another little iricideiit came, under his noticej : which ■/also showed how impossible^it was that■■• Mr.; Massey could have any sympathyv.with the workers. He paid a; visit 'to the Mjarigatoki factory |bn brie f occasipn; and !it was noticed that he had i riofjhing to say tp the, men in a king cheese, at the •'yata,:/-'.Npt,; probably, ■-, that he had any feeling that he was so mucih their superior; but , strai^st showed which /nray the T^ind;; blew, arid : these; little; ;iiicjdents indicated how hopeless; :,it was. for the workers to expect any' consideriEirtiori from, the Premier of the Reform party. ' ! : THOSE COMMITMENTS.

Since the present: Government came into office it had made- a great point upon the platform; about /i the^ "large local' .commitments left;itr by vthe^Liberalt Party; the; people were^tolxl^that there was no money'toVmeet %hoseccommitments.: It emphasised thatithe advances to local authorities h .account was committed' to .on ; ;June ] 30y ■ 1913, £723,000, arid" thatLfthere; .wasSonly £64,000 Nto vthis^;;••". jßut .iipthing was said about the .amounts authorised by Parliament: to rm^t'-^esepcommit-mehts^ nor:)that.- : . theseW-;rcommitnaents were spread; over; a period^f time, giv-

finance to transfer from one account X^l^'V^ Maf^ AdmiSiSonS^rn^h^^S^tgv position and that it was only the t™™ I?™™**?1 ?™™**? the. Minister of finance that got it out of'the dif£ ? fT y'i l\ point of fa<* any Liberal thin* 'f fi een H °ffice and knew Inyl thmjr of financial matters, would have " got over the matter smoothly, and n£ at'" Ka7e been>^ about it CIVIL SERVICE APPOINTMENTS. +l,?\r ad previously been asserted by thatM t r ey TP£ rty'i W£ en in "OPPoaiUoi? stuLl «.« fiTi ..■G.«^n»nent had fctutted the Civil Service with political appointments. Mr Allen, in hSCI Budget submitted to' the House, mentioned that the Civil Service wag S attractive the young people of the country—there were fewer young men seeking positions in the • eervice^and that something would have to be done ■to make it more attractive. Shortly afterwards Mr Massey made the deliberate statement that the Civil-Ser-vice was the best in the world. He made this statement not very long *fter he had taken up the position of Premier, but not long enough, however, for any action of the Premiers to have made.the service the best in the world.. Another of Mr Massey's statements!was that since the Government had been in office there had not been one dismissal. But what did all this prove? That the statements made by the present Administration prior to their qoming into officers-through the • votes of the four political rate—were not true, and .were used for making, ■political capitalso as to enable them to pet on to the Treasury benches. Mr Astbury went on to refer to some appointments made by tM Massey party when it came into office, and particularly dealt^ with the . '

WESTPORT HARBOR APPOINT-

MENT, uhich he warmly criticised. When Mr -Atmore in the "House made the deliberate statement that the gentleman appointed to the Board by the Minister for Marine had no fewer than six convictions against him, Mr Fisher rose and said he knew nothing about' this, and if it were true he would ask the gentleman to resign. A commit-j tee was set up in the House to investigate the matter, and it brought down a reooit, the essence of which was that the Minister for Marine did not know '. of the charges against the gentleman referred to before he* made the appointment. Mr G. W. Russell moved ' an amendment to the repoit of the committee to the effect, "seeing that the appointment was inadvisable -he should be asked to resign." It was a simple amendment, yet party feeling, came into the question, and that man was there to-day. The member for - Egmont was asked a question on'this .npnointment at^ one of his addressee ( in Eltham, an 3in answer to it he said: " "I would not have made that appointment." And yet 'he went into the lobby with his party and voted in support of the committee's report.. He also referred to the ROYD GARLICK APPOINTMENT. He did jaot blame Mr Garlick for tak"- J m'.r; up the appointment of instructor in physical culture, but he certainly blamed those who made the appointment, when it carried with, it a salary of £600 a year, without first offering the position to competition. There as not a schoolmaster throughout the 'r Dominion receiving anything like jthat salary, and many had probably spent- - 35 years in the education service; and.^ yet the position was not open to them." - It was practically''admitted by every,-! body 'that the method^ adopted by the i Minister in making this appointment., were not correct!, and that the position should have been thrown open for 11 competition. *' - A NON-BORROWING POLICY. *' Prior to the Massey Administration coming into office they went thiough- " out the land advocating a non-borrow-ing policy. They said the then Government was borrowing too much and'was running the country to perdition. • When they got ipto power they would reduce borrowing, but they had not stopped borrowing. Since- the TVlassey" r Government took office" the indebtedness of y the countiy had increased over nine millions, though some of that * increase may be said to be Mr Myer's * loan. But the fact remained. Taking s , the Financial Statement of 1912-13 and v companng it with the 1913-14 ..State- \ ment, they would find that the1 net d«H W tTHMeawl from £82,193^310, to £91,689,835 in 1914, an actual increase ■ of £9,496,525. Taking Mr Allen's oxtn, > ngures, tne. Massey. Government had 1 increased the 'public indebtedness in 1914 (at the end of Maseh>by £4,- . 693,064.' So much for the non-borrow-ing Government. ' They had beon. throughout the length and breadth of this country promising money for harf, bors, railways, roads, anything and , everything, in fact, that they. were1 >' asked for without any consider*cion, ot where they were going to get -the money from to fulfil these promises. One prominent Reform candidate, in- 1 answer to & question, said that he was ' supporting a Government which in-" tended to reduce borrowing. He wa& talking at the time about spending money on some public works, and the *; questioner said, "So you arp^not ,in favor of borrowing." Mr Wilkinson',' replied/ "Yos. The present Govern- ; ment. is ftouig , to Teduce borrowing ,. straight away. 'I would^not support"them for one moment if they 'did not., He (Mr Astbury) would ask Mr Wilkinson if he was now going to fulfil the pledge he made on that orm.~ THE JAMES' LETTER. -\ There nasa gentleman' living ; jn -^ Wellington by the name of E?ne,st A. . James— a gentleman who occupied'the - Ijosition of -secretary to the New Zea- / land Political Refoim League/ At the*? time when nutters, industrial* and otherwise, were not i working m harmony, this gentloman conceived the J idea ot ci eating an amount of indig- ' nant public opinion by writing certain^ letters with a certain object in view.* r Prior to the hguding out of these let- , ters, Sir Jostph Ward had risen in the; House and miormed Mr Massey.< when discussing the repeal of the Second Ballot Act, that if something were not . put in its ptace whereby the opinions.: of a majority of the electors could be secured, tlv Opposition' would use j every constitutional means in their *" power to block the Bill. When the " Bill came down there was a simple little clause repealing the second bal- v lot, but o<loiing nothing in its place". \ Immediately the Opposition set up a""' stonewall, <tud it was jjusb at this time, 4 m the nddiiU 1 <if this strike, that James^T set out to create public indignation*;' against Sir Joseph' Ward. Presfim-V" ably he sent letters albover New Zea-1^ land to th,^ .irious branches of the vRe-^ form Le.igu6, saying something ; like, this: "We >'int you to call, meetings 7 of members of branch" and'get'; strongly wordc d resolutions passed obf' jecting to tlio methods of' the jOpposS k tion in impeding the Government passing legislation, impeding work gener-^ ally, and JimUng it extremely difficult; V j for the Gotomment, iinder the unusxiaF^ stress, to effiy on ihe work of the, I country. Tf you cannot get meetings ,* of the bri>' Yes, then send telegrams-* if

«^RHM*l*o Dominion^ and get them i take care that "these -reso- | ;rK4^9^ s and telegranis aa-e sent as com-:i :;<mg:iromyouso that not a breath of suspicion should be aroused as to their :\ originating : from Wellington." One ; of;'these 'letters:"got into the hands of a_gentlenian; who was not go loyal a ' 'Rdfoi-mor". as-some, of the others* and who promptly sent. it. to the Times, and;it was duly published. The fat then in the fire. When the matter was brought up in the House, Mr ■ ' Massey, in answer to a question, said the letter was sioleiv. "As if that had anything to do with the principle of - the thing;" remarked Mr Astbury. Thenthe Premier-added that the prohibitionists did tilings like ihat (Laaighter). He (Mr Astbury) had! been connected with the Temperance . party for years, and he knew that they had forwarded telegrams to the different members and Ministers asking * for their support to certain. Nolicense Bills, and threatening opposition in the case of non-compliance, but thatwas altogether dili'erent from this particular form of party tactics. This James' letter incident emanated from a party who had always been pleading their own self -righteousness. - "How does it agree with your r opinion of honesty, uprightness and truth?" asked Mr Astbury. Mr Massey and every member of the Cabinet were ■■ members of the Reform League of wliich Mr James was secretary, and lie must hare been in their confidence. -■" EXEMPTIONS FROM xNCOME TAX. The Magsey Government had found time to bring down proposals exempt- . ;iug ikose roi-fcuhate enough to possess incomes .ranging from £300 to £700, :/ 1 .by .proposing , that an additional £25 :■:■]; .exemption should be made for every ' child, under .16 years of age.; The Opi.: :! ;-'fougn't.'.:^his'';.ahd. brought the . limit, down, from £700 to '£425. H .Mr vMa*xey ,hud said that his heart '■ ■;:■■ .bled: for Ihe working' man', but he forgo fc'■all about .reducing the cost of living, and started at the top to reduce iax^tion. These-facts bore out his assertion «that the Reform Party had nothing -in common with the people as ..a whole, and that their sympathies . -were with the wealthy class.* , BAY OF ISLANDS SEAT.

Them:was another incident of the methods adopted, Iby the Reform party hi connection with the Bay of Islands seat. At the last election Mr Vernon Reed was elected to represent the seat, and pledged to" support the^ Liberal party. Immediately he got to "Wellington Mr Reed moved round and ever since has been a supporter of the Masr ■ sey Administration. A short time ago it was.found necessary to choose a, candidate and Mr Wilkinson, was selected to contest the seat in ibhe Reform party's interest. Mr Massey subsequently approached Mr Wilkinson as to whether he would prefers a seat in the TJpp&r House or contest the Islands seat. Mr Wilkinson was reported to have said: ''I would rather face honorable defeat than I would accept, to what looks like to me, a political ■bribe." (Applause.) A £ew days afterwards Mr Wilkinson was again approached on the matter, but he refused to have anything to do with it. A similar incident took place in the Egmont electorate a few years ago, but the gentleman approached promptly immed the overtures down. Mr Astbury went oh to deal with the ; RHODES CLAUSE.

Another of, the members returned pledged to support the Liberal party was Mr T. W. Rhodes, M.P. for Thames, but hsratted. A clause was inserted in a Land Bill brought down : by,,the Government in last session, giy- ;:'; -Tng;th'e fre'e^ ■ v : £- lihei^Ba^f^ki- \'Miiiing; District, which ■>;■ ;:;i^ , those hpld;;'viSeScqUwted. ; l!CMi^Rhod^ yas-a;;holder -;■;';of on©.: of \two^thousand,iacres of this . .• vland and so one 'eari;see how he 'would A "have benefited by the clause referred to. ; The Opposition, however, resisted the •:• ' position, with the result that the miniers were allowed to prospect under certain reservations/ and . minerals were conserved by the State. ■ > CUSTOMS^DUTIES,

: The Massey Government may have been unable to find time to reduce the cost of' living" to the many, but they found time to insert a clause in the Customs Act of 1913, exempting the Governor from contributing through the to the revenue of the Dominion. The Governor received a salary of £5000 a year plus £1500 house allowance and £500 travelling expenses, or £7000 in all. And he now gets his cigars, wines, furs, etc., absolutely free of duty. All classes of the community had to pay this quota of taxation through the Customs, and he did not believe in any one individual in a democratic country being exempt. The Minister of Marine, doubtless with the sane, tion of Cabinet, put this clause in the Bill and when the member for Egmont was asked for an explanation, he said, "it was customary."

GENERAL MANAGER OF RAILWAYS.

He had stated at the by-election that he believed _ there were men in the New Zealand railway service quite capable of taking the general managership, and a 1 new man had a great deal to learn in regard to the running of New Zealand railways; they would be quite a different proposition to running railways in - older countries.. Here they were used largely for settlement 'purposes and were really^ under the control of the - i p&pple.1 At -hisv firstr meeting with the' .railway- men in' Wellington/ the new . general manager. ■'asked:;fpr suggestions ■ , from alt .andrsundry as regards the better working/of the railways. .It was a sensible thing to, do, no!doubt j but it . rather bore out the opinion expressed that a man coming from outside would nave a great deal to learn.: The actual results so far obtained did not appear to have warranted the appointment of a man from Home at a salary of £3000, plus 21s per day travelling expenses. In his first report he estimated that he . would require £3,250,000 for new buildings, stock, dpulication of lines, but the public so far could not see much improvement in the-service, and it appeared also that the freights were going to be increased. At the by-election he had asserted that the railways had cost something like £11,000 on an average S!c/^J c construct, and not up to - ±,16,000 as had been asserted. The acSi Si Irf K g o UreAl U?r to March 31, 1913, were £11>°j?; o^ Ma^ h ' 1914 ' *c average £11,309, , The railway statistics showed that under the Liberal regime f tfte railways earned more and cost less •i -»^ n under^present conditions. The - <~-Ketorm Government was not running ;-. the affairs of the country, in this particular department, at anyrate, anythrog like so well as the part y which lifid had control for nearly 20 years (Applause). v . A SAMOAN EPISODE. Another little incident, .just a little party tactic- was worthy of reference. Jfc was when the troopers were going to Samoa. Reporters of various papers approached Ministers seeking informatidii as to the Department allowing importers to go with troops, and were , lUiOrmed no press reporters would be al- . lowed to go However, a Mr Ross, re- " £? », r tn&-Dominion, was admitted Mr Massey, when questioned in the '.- House, said General Godley, he understood, had allowed this man to go, because he had been a resident in Samoa and could therefore act as guide Mr "\ Wilford then asked "Did he know the

troops, were going -to Samoa The Premier replied "No." "How then could he offer to act as guide," said Mr Wilford, amidst laughter. The Premier did not wait to answer.

THE DREADNOUGHT. . At the by-election Mr Astbury said he was asked if he agreed with the giving of the. Dreadnought. He then answered "Yes." The only difference he had with the giving was the method and thought Sir Joseph ■ Ward should have consulted members of Parliament before doing so. But Sir Joseph made the presentation of the Dreadnought to the Imperial. Government, subject to ratification by Parliament—^and Parliament ratified, that gift. To-day that Dreadnought was in the fighting line in the North Sea—(loud appiause)—assisting t-6 protect the British, Empire, and helping to keep the channel free for our produce. , He took it that the giving of the New Zealand was a. statesmanlike action; it was the trumpet call to the other dominions and the Empire to go and do likewise. (Renewed applause). CANTEEN CHARGES.

During the last couple of months the people had heard a great many patriotic speeches from the Premier and Minister for Defence with reference to the young men who were going from New Zealand with the Expeditionary Force, and naturally it would be thought that the Government would consider the welfare of the men on the boats. But what was thei position ? Just within the last few days the Mayor of Christchurch called attention to the charges made by the canteen contractors on the troopships, with the result that ■ the matter was taken up. In one case 300 lbs of honey was given for the use of the troops, but it was not allowed on board as it would affect the profits of the contractors! The soldiers were being charged unreasonably high prices for anything purchased at the canteens, _as the following would show.: Mineral water: Canteen price Is, store price, 6d; hop beer, 6d, 2d; writing pads Is, 4d; enamel mugs Is, 4d; pencils 3d, Id; pipes 2s, 6d; tobacco (no duty) 8s; biscuits Is, 4d to 6d; enamel plates Is 6d, 6d. Had there not been delay in sailing o.f the ships the men would have been exploited until they reached their destination. The Minister for Defence tried to make light of the matter and to make the excuse that the contractors had to make a profit. He did not say that the Premier or his colleagues did these things deliberately, but it appeared that they did not realise the need and interests of these young fellows, or had the sympathy with the men who were perhaps sacrificing their lives in defence of their country. If they ,did they would have taken care to see that' the troopers were not exploited. SURPLUSES BETWEEN 1891 AND 1911.

He had often wondered at the unblushing audacity of some of the gentlemen styling themselves "Reformers," when they stood on" a public, platform, and iterated and reiterated, notwithstanding' ineontrayertible proof, that there were no surpluses throughout the twenty years the Liberals controlled the finances of the Dominion. Even in the face of the prospectus issued by the Minister of Finance in the Massey Government, Mr Allen, for the express purpose of persuading the British investors or British capitalists to loan their money to the New Zealand Government, they will say there was no surplus. Consciously or unconsciously they place the men holding high rank in this Dominion in the position of either on the one hand deliberately and knowingly misleading the British public by statements or figures that are untrue, m other words-^obtaining money under false pretences—or the statements they make re those surpluses to the New Zealand elector that they are non-exist-ent, "was false. At a pre-sessional address, he asked Mr Wilkinson how he reconciled, his statements mad© on the public platform that the surpluses of tne Liberal Government were a sham and a humbug with the Minister's own printed confirmation and endorsement of them. As a matter of actual fact the surpluses claimed by the Liberal b-overnment were, bona fide and corT A ec V passed hy and signed for by the Auditor-General as a correct record of the colony's financial position for the past twenty years. (Applause). BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

This was a question upon which he felt a candidate must give a straightout opinion. He was opposed to a referendum ,on the Bible-in-sehools question, and what his own particular conscience said was right or wrong was not a matter to be voted upon. He did not consider that any man-was the keeper of the conscience of another. It had been said that children in the State schools growing up under the .present Godless , conditions were • less v»;tuous, upright, and moral than the children attending schools where Bible instruction was given. This was a slur on all those who had and were passing through the State schools. Personally he believed that tVs highest moral teaching should be taught in our schools by our teachers, and he was •of the opinion that on the teaching staff of New Zealand were men and women of a high moral standard,'and it would not improve matters by allowing ministers of the various denominations to enter the schools while secular education under the ordinary staff was being carried on. The State should inculcate lessons of virtue, uprightness and honesty throughout all its curriculum, .but beyond that it" should not go

■■••^?;*V-. licensing; ■■■' v-- .■";■■, '\j£ Suestl°n vftad been put to him: Was lie in favor of the bare majority ? If not, why not? He believed in the b*re majority logically and as a method or deciding most legislation. But the licensing question was a social question, and it was no crime for a <man t» dnnk a glass of beer. He (the speaker) was. not a "teetotaller," but Jte had steadily voted "no-license " They had on the Statute Book tie three-fifths majority, but a great many people now considered that this was too big a handicap, and that it should be reduced. But the bare majority would cause a great deal of trouble in the.swaying backwards and forwards of the issue. They must remember that it a. bare .majority carried prohibition a bare majority must restore it. He believed the proper position was the £ Pfi* ? ent- and that there should be such a majority of public opinion behind the movement as to secure its permanency when once carTied. • . ■. . WEST GOAST SETTLEMENT RESERVES. Mr Astbury dealt with the amendments made with reference to the na*ive, under this Act. He contended that an equitable arrangement had not been made between the natives on the one hand and many industrious farmers on the other. When we heard of men who had left the district, m some instances the Dominion, getting an extension of this lease for another ten years, and the men: who tor some years past had been toiling ani improving these lands, together with advancing the interests of the district by creating dairy factories and raising loans to metal roads, one wondered where the "equitable arrangement should be made for the purpose of settling the rights of the parties" came in. It appeared to him that at the expiry of the lease the man who occupied the land, "subject to any liability for improvements" held "by

the original lessee, had as much, if not greater, right to that ten years' extension of the lease than the man who had left the district and country; yet this Act absolutely ignored the occupier, though the probabilities were he had done more towards helping the district's progress than the original lessee. And if the present occupier had been considered then any settler who still lived on the land. as an original lessee could still have been protected, and no dislocation of settlement would have taken place. It would have been' more preferable to have exercised the power given under the Lands for Settlement Act and bought this land, re-investing the money for benefit of the natives, and making special regulations with regard to the area a man could hold. PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION.

The Massey Government had nominated ten Councillors to the Upper Chamber for a period of seven years, their nominees being nearly all, if not, all, well-known Conservatives. The action of the Bill was such that a Tory majority- would rale in that. Chamber, to th© detriment of all progressive legislation; and this was the -measure of electoral reform so much talked of. If. evidence was required of their Tory leanings, he might point out how Mr Wilford's Bill, to reduce the hours of women working in woollen mills from 48 hours ;per week to 45 hours,' bringing them in line with other industries, was being treated by the Council. It was very doubtful if the Bill would pass this session. Apparently the present Administration believed in safeguarding property owners as against the rights and welfare of human beings—the argument used in the Council with reference to the' Bill was that if it passed the woollen- mills would suffer. IN CONCLUSION.

Mr Astbury reminded his audience that he had not attempted to place I-*-" fore them any constructive legislation, and that it would-be necessary for him to come before them again to support a, policy which would be submitted to the people by the Liberal Party. He, personally, had certain proposals which would be placed before them later on, but -for ■ the present' he was' confining his remarks to a criticism of. the administration of those who had been in power for the past two years in order that they might the better understand what had been going on. The member for Egmont had said on one occasion on that platform .that he believed five or six years was long enough for_any administration to have charge of the affairs of the'country. He (Mr Astbury) \vas. satisfied that three years was; long enough .for the Massey Administration to occupy the Treasury benches—(hear, hear)—and lie intended to do his best to oust them. They all recognised that they were involved in the, greatest, crisis the. British; Empire hacf 'everyknavvn^iind;it was for every' ■b'nV^'tbvi'db'V:]hffs /<;;jj:est::'''tij' lighten the burden by .attending carefully to the, • local government, of 'their own, country. If they tobk.an'intelligent interest' ih these matters they would • haye t good - government. •' The' statements he had. made were either true or. untrue. .If they believed them true he called upon the electors to help him depose from the Treasury benches those gentlemen who did not represent the majority of the people, but who got there „by the "ratting" of four members pledged to work in the interests of Liberalism. He asked them to place him at the head of the poll at the coming election in order that he could help depose the gentlemen who. stood for class legislation, and elect in their stead a Government with sympathies for the masses as a whole. The issue was in their hands > and he felt confident he could leave it at that. (Applause.) Only one question was asked. Mr E. Parrott moved that a hearty vote of thanks be accorded to Mr Astbury for his able and instructive address. This was seconded by Mr Carter and carried by acclamation. The customary compliment to the chairman concluded the meeting.