THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 4417, 10 July 1884, Page 2

THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN.

MR DARGAVILLE AT CITY WEST.

Mv .). M. DARfiAvn.i.K addressed a mooting of the electors of City West last night in St. James's Hall, Wellington street. The building was crowded to the dooi*, and Mr Dargaville wan received with considerable

applause

Mr (.'. X. Wright h.i" voted into iho olwir, and opened tlio meeting in the usual way. Mr Daikiavim.k, who was greeted with cheers and renewed applause, said that it would lie affectation on his port wore he not ul. the outset lo acknowledge how highly complimented he toll, at the assemblage of such a largo body of the elector to hem- his remarks. A section of the local [mud had seen lit to decry what little ellortM he hud inailo to aorvo Iho cause of Liberalism. He hud no newspaper of hi* own, and ho stood before them as a man Mho hud been condemned without n hearing Ijj the newspapers of Auckland, with whirl) the part y that was recognis.od a:i the enemy of the Liberal oau«u had considerable in Huunno. Thank <iod I here wan this a'tornativo of a free platform and of a fair hearing from the oloctors thoniHolvos, who were the ropositorieH of power. The ficduloiiKly droillatoil report that the Government owed their recent defeat to their reduction of the Canterbury grain charges wan absolutely incorrect. At the end of tho previous session they were in a majority of 10 votes, and lit the commencement, of last HORHion they were in a minority of 14, cmiwd by tho secession of 12 member*. An nnulyniH of those 12 votes would show tho fallacy of the statement that the cause of the change wax thatalleged by thoMiuisteriali.sts, The first of the 12 who changed -ides was Hone Mohi Tawliai, of the North, who stated in the House that he had decided to oppose the (iovernment on account ol their unfair treatment of his friend Major Uopata, and also on account of the policy they had pursued towards Kowi Ngatimaniapoto. [Tawhui s words in " liaiiMtrd " quoted). Captain Morris and Mr Whitaker changed sides because they disapproved of Mr Bryee's native land policy, and Messrs l.evostam and Mr I'ctrie because of the (lovernment's maladministration. Messrs Buchanan and Hutton. changed for tho suire reuson, while Messrs Kichardson and Wakefield had been elected as Oppositionists. The remaining three — Messrs McMillan, O'Callaghan and another lie admilted, did desert on account of the Ministerial policy with regard to tho grain charges. The true euuse for the alteration was Triennial Parliaments, for members knew that public feeling had undergone a notuble change. I'ublic opinion, therefore, was the cause of tno Government's defeat. Governments of such a kind, which had not a stable foundation in popular confidence, had to resort to corruption in order to live. He hud had many ovidences of the present Cabinet's corruption. Their dealings with the tru>-t fumlK of the colony ho had proviuiirfly drawn attention to. He might begin at the North (Jape, proceed through llokiangn, Waitemata (groans), i'rauklyn South, Tuuranga, and U'aipa—native land concessions and point out tho instances of this corrupt ion. lie know that it would lako a strung man to defeat Mr Hurst (groans), but "by means of 1,5,000 or 1.1i,000 judiciously distributed through the electorate, even an umbrella would be hard to defeat. Tarunaki wan secured by reason of the large harbour works, and the facts that its three members were all salaried, [A voi-o : And nil the Parliament.] In Wellington province most of the members had relatives in the pay of the Government, and Wanganui laboured under the obligation of an expenditure of 1,18,000. Mr Mullen had smilingly told him that he expected a walk-over on tho West Coast, as Lti.j.OoO had been spent in his district. Talori had been conciliated through 1,12,000 of a debt ujxin a bridge being wiped out, while a couple of years ago tho throe rooanUngCanterbury votes had been bought over by the reduction in the railway tariff, representing a sum of £70,000 or 1.80,000. No adiniuistration could bo pure which did nut ie>t upon thegoodwill and eonliilenpiuif the people, it had been said that the AurklaudOp|>o.-itioiiisls<hadbeun instnimental in preventing the votiujj of the trunk railway and the station, and that t hey had done no good. They pawed a very important measure known an the I'ublic Revenues Act. Yet, the representative of the " llcrnhl " [A voice : " (live it lo him " and applause] did not appear to have heard ;UH thing aboul it. He was a young man in his courting day he was not sure whether or not the honeymoon had been entered upon -but at any rate he left this Act entirely out of his cognisance. Tho Opposition explicitly informed the (Jovornnietlt that they wished the authorised mil way works to bo deforred, and by the Act in question (hey voted them no less a sum than L4G.000 for two months' departmental supplies, besides the enormous sum of 1^.1)1,450 for public works. He believed that they asked for such a large sum in order to provoke hostility, and thus appeal to the country, but they met with none. Tho Opposition said, " Here is the money ; go on with your Auckland reclamation works. Go on with the Auckland railway station, and all your other public works throughout the colony." There was perhaps reason why members of a Government in urtiaito vtorti* should spread false repoits throughout tho country "on theso matters, but when he found friends and admirers like Mr Moss at Parnoll (Cries of "Rats ") anil Mr Peacock at Ponsonby (Groans) giving currency to tho sams calumnies, he wns impelled to say that they were lending themselves to the deception of the people. Tho Opposition, however, went further in the Public Revenues Act. They granted tho Government other largo sums for emergencies, and no less a sum than L 700.000 for deficiency bills lest the credit of the colony should bo jeopardised. Ho therefore gave the He to the statements circulated by The " Herald " in the interests of tho clique which it served. The next matter of importance was tho North Island trunk railway. At the last general elections he was tho first political candidate who dwelt upon tho importance of urging upon tho Government tho completion of this lino. Since thon ho had abated not one tittle of his zeal iv its furtherance. [At this stago Mr Dargavillo exposed upon a wooden frame, upon the platform, a largo coloured map of the North Island, showing the thrco proposed routes for tho trunk railway line and tho existing lines. Ho proceeded to explain theso various routes.] Tho lino from \Vellington, northward as far as Marton, had been authorised in tho belief that it waa to form part of the trunk lino by way of New Plymouth to Auckland. After stating how the million sterling for tho trunk line camo to bo voted, the speaker went on to say that just prior to the last session his friend Mr MiteheUon—than whom there was not a more honourable man in tho Ministry—went over tho routes,and camo to the conclusion that tho line to Marton was the ono to bo adopted. In coming to that conclusion, ho lost sight of the fact that the million sterling was voted principally as a measure of justico to Auckland, which had so long been left out in tho cold. It was not, therefore, a mere question of tho opening up of country. Apart from that, tho western route would only cost tl million pounds, while tho central route would involve an expenditure of L 1,400,000, and the additional 1,400,000 would only have the effect of isolating Auckland from tho East and West Coasts, and placing them within the grasp of Wellington. lie therefore assumed that overy Auckland mombor who had tho interests of his provinco at heart would vote for the connection with Stratford. (Applauso). Tho Government, had behaved in a discreditable manner with regard to theso rival routes. Mr Mitchelson had submitted his proposals in a straightforward manner, but the Government decided to olTer both lines lest they should loso any Wellington or Auckland votes, but in doing so they knew that thcro was no possibility whatever of getting such a proposal passed by the House. The Auckland Opposition members, howovor, assisted by their Southern confreres, could havo forced the Government to undertako tho construction of the western route, not only bocanso it was the cheaper one, but also because the money had been voted as a measure of justice to Auckland. The Government,by supporting tho Marton, had shown its hostility to Auckland, and by their defoat the western route had been practically secured. When ho first wont down to Parliament he had been led into taking up an attitude of opposition to the Government through their extravagance, thoir patronage of favoured peoplo, the strong propensity of tho Treasurer to favour certain powerful corporations of tho colony who supported their policy, and by financing in their bonclit, And now, when Major Atkinson promised bettor thingß in the future, in, case they granted him another lease of power, ho asked them neither to bolievo nor to trust them. Tho extent to which corrupt patronago prevailed was shown by Mr Miteholson's ability, two weeks after his arrival in Wellington, to swoop away tho Colonial Architect's Departmont, andJJius save L.1,000 or 1,4,000 per

annum. The fame gentleman hart expressed to him hi* ability to effort a further saving of L 20.000 or 1.30,000 in tlio Public Works Department. Mr Dargavillo went on to refer to the circumstances in connection with the elevation of Mr Brandon to thfl Upper Houbo, and Mr George Thome's monopoly of tlio Insurance Department. Tho Auckland piws had laid upon Mr Luckie the whole blame of making the now agreement with Mr Thorna while bin cacc was still under the consideration of the House. Not only that, but they exonerated Major AtkitiHon from all complicity in or cogniHaneo of the transaction. Hut he had hcen fortunate enough t<> obtain ii copy of the expunged records of tlio I'ulilio Accounts Committee, which did notappearin tho Blue Hook for 1883, and those expunged records showed clearly that Major Atkinson was a party to tho new agreement while tho matter was still engaging attention in Par liament. He had the records with him, and would hand them ovcrtothe local press for publication, if they wished. [A voice : Don't ijive it to tho " Herald," for it won't printit. (Applause)| Km thercoriuptionwas shown in thu appointment of one of Major Atlan.-ion's mo.it subservient prccw toadies and iwil rabid of detractor- ol the Liberal [Mi-ly to tins position ol Oliicial Asnigriee in tho Hmilli, an appointment which raised a storm of indignation (.hrnugbmit the feSoUth. Then, ton, the same Minister had invested 1/15,1)00 of public trust funds in private railway debenture-*, which Sir Julius Vogol declared to be uttor rubbish. (Applause). Again, Major Atkinson obtained authority to ruiM 1/250,000 upon tlobentures to bo sold in the colony, thus affording to depositors in Savings Banks an opportunity of serving tho country, besides reaping tho benefit of 4 per cent, for their money. They were only, however, to bo ."old by virtue of an Order-in-' 'ouncil. Vet without the issue of this Order ill-Council the whole of (he debentures had been quietly and secretly placed, and the whole of the money expended for the benelit of his friends. Ho challenged contradiction to that. Furthermore, the MJ.000.000 was only voted by the addition of a schedule showing exactly the work* upon which it was proposed io be expended. Vet a sum of £,375,000 of that sum had been deliberately lilched from its proper purpose and otherwise spent,. It was a public scandal, nay more, an infamy, and every man or newspaper which supported the Government shared in it. [A voice: "You'll pot it hot to-morrow morning."! 110 supposed that he would get it hot to-morrow morning, and possibly also to-morrow afternoon, but ho was not sure of the latter. At any rate, ho intended to have another meeting on the eve of the polling day, and on that occasion he would reply to any further press detractions. The speaker went on to declare his preference for a land tax as against the property tax which Major Atkinson ko consistently advocated. Ho would admit that he was a plucky man and a {rood lighter, [A voice : "So is Swnnnon."], hut on this matter he was In pMmnis. Sir George Grey was against him ; so was Mr Montgomery, Mr Ormond, Mr Uallaneo, Sir Julius Vogol [Groan*, and a voice: "The Wondering .low."] and ho was himself. [A voice : " Peacock isn't."] Aftor a reference to the guncrou« manner in which Sir George Grey »upporto<J himself, even when his most immwliato friends deserted him, the speaker went on to say that, it was a mistaken idea to suppose that the North Island had been unjustly treated as compared with the South Island. But Auckland had been shamefully treated as compared with tho other portions of the North Island —particularly Wellington and Taranaki. Yet. with a gross ignorance of thu course of political questions, and with a stupid bias, the New Zealand " Herald " was endeavouring to harden Otago and Canterbury against Auckland, and in that way it was tho worst enemy the province had. Wellington was chuckling all the time. As to the future, ho was prepared, with the cooperation of the party with which he had been associated for the past two years, to set tin face di-liTinincdly against the schemes of political adventurers, who would be desirous of plunging tho colony into an abyss of borrowing. He believed, too, th.it the (gentleman whose distinguished carter, and hi'jh character, and ability entitled him to bo the real leader of tho Liberal party, [Cries of "Grey" and cheers] notwithstanding his distaste lor everything that Ik: had not. been able to thoroughly approve <»f in the pa-t, would be uiiiin" lo mako concen'ions in order lhat "Nu\v Xo'tia.id might be saved friilu these adventurers who threatened her. rtftur reading an extract, from a Parliamentary Kpcecb, in which he exhorted Major At kill-on tn fniwiku his unwholesome t-ur-loimdiii", and avow himself a true [jibcrnl, Mr li.trgaville went on to «ay that in his opinion Major Atkinson and Sir GcorgO tiivy would bo found in the same lobby within a month or six weeks after tlio re-assembling of Parliament. The gentleman then concluded by reciting the follow-in"-lines from Bracken's "God Defend New Zealand ":-

" Worn dissension, envy, hate. And corruption jfiiard our stale; M;iko our country kocml and great. (Joil defend Now Zealand." Mr Itorpaville resumed his peat amid loud checrK. Questions. In answer to question?, Mr Dargaville wild—(l) That with respect to the enactment of blasphemy laws in this colony, an honed man's word should bo as good as his liond, mid an affirmation in any court of law *he aid bo accepted in lieu of an oath. (2) That in appointing n political partisan like tho lion. Mr Waterhouse Deputy Governor, the Government were setting up a dangerous and unconstitutional precedent. (8) That he would support both manhood, and womanhood suffrage, too, in the dection of Licensing Cornnuttees. (4) That he believed thoroughly in the present system of education. (.'>) That he bad nothing to do as an employer of labour in the reduction of bushmen s wages to 4s 2d a day, which wa.= brought about by G. Holdship and Co., Hchapp and Ansenne, and the Mercury Bay Timber Co., but, on the contrary, absolutely refused to have anything to do with such a compact. Mr Pargnvillo went on to denounce Dr. Campbell <>nd Messrs Firth aud Holdship, whom he termed wealthy parvenus, for grinding down the working classes with poor wages and long hours of labour. It was those gentlemen and their friends who wore opposing him in the present election. He also read an extract from A. K. Wallace's " Land Nationalisation " in order to show the inevitable result of such things. (15) That the Kmno Coal Company wore allowed to owe the Government a large amount of royalty because its directors wore in the happy circumstance of I o'ng friends of the Ministerial party. (7) That he saw no reason to proscribe the totalizator. (S) That he did not consider an export duty on baulk timber expedient or desirable. In this connection Mr Dargaville said that Mr Iloldship had recently assembled all his timber employe's around when they were leaving work, and addressed them in favour of his (the speaker's) political opponent in this seat. ((I) Being an Irishman, ho did not liko policemen, and therefore should not vote for the retention of tho Armed Constabulary aflw 13 years. (Laughter and applause). (10) That he know nothing of LKSO.OOO having been voted for an East Coast railway in Canterbury. (11) That ho considered (wo Chambers of Legislature necessary, but that they might both bo made elective with different qualifications and districts. (12) That most decidedly he would not support Sir Julius Vogel as a lender, and follow him in preference to Sir George Grey.

Mr SIIAU.KH proposed, " That this meeting has entire conndonco in Mr Dargavillo as representative for Auckland West. That it deprecates and disowns any feeling of antagonism towards tho people of the South Island such as a section of tho local press seeks to engender. That it is dcsirablo, in tho interests of tho colony at largo, that tho party with which Mr lJargaviilo is identified may succeed in forming a strong political combination embracing all parts of the colony."

Mr A. Bkttany seconded tho resolution. lie snid that if Mr Dargavillo had mado any mistakes in the past, he had surprised and plous-od by doing even moro than ho had promised, and therefore deserved thoir ontiro confidence As for tho articles in tho "Herald," they woro in no senso representative of public, opinion, but only expressed tko viows of monoy and land rings which woro opposed to tho interests of the working classes. (jOhcers.)

Tho resolution was put amlcnrriod miaul inously amid loud cheora.

Mr DaroaviMjE, in roiurning thanks, made an acknowledgment of Sir (ieo. (Jrey'x kindnoss towards himself, and then called for three for him, which were very cordially given.

Cheers wero also given for Mr Dargavillo himself, and after passing a vote of thanks to tho Chairman tho meeting dissolved.