MR T. THOMPSON AT ST. JAMES'S HALL.

Auckland Star, Volume XXI, Issue 279, 26 November 1890, Page 2

MR T. THOMPSON AT ST. JAMES'S HALL.

Mr Thos. Thompson, one of the candidates for Auckland City, addressed, the electors at St. James's Hall, last evening-. There ■was a large audiencej and Mr J. J. Holland occupied the chair. The Chairman said Mr Thompson did not need any introduction to the electors, whom he had ably represented during two Parliaments and seven sessions. In other respects he had served the citizens well, both in the City Council, Harbour Board and other lecfd bodies, and had performed Lie duties in each and all of these capacities to the satisfaction of the electors generally. (Apolause.) Mr Thompson, in coming forward to speak, was received with cheers. Ho said he had invited them to meet him that evenIng so that he mighb have au opportunity of' placing before them his views on the ■various public questions that had been occupying public attention lately, Before he did so,"however, there were one or two remarks thab ho wished to make. Hβ alluded to the retirement from this conteet of <one of the candidates, in the person of SIR GEORGE CKEY, •who had represented Auckland Central in the last Parliament. Hβ was sure that they would all ragreb, as he regretted, tho causes that had led to that retirement, and would sympathise with Sir George Grey. Sir George had been one of the foremost figures in the political world for many years, and the same feeling of regret would be felt J throughout the colony that ill-health had prevented him from standing; for re-election. If Sir George had bean able to continue as a candidate, there was no doubt that he would have been where they would all have expected him to be —at the head of the poll. (Cheers.) There was also another matter to which he wished to refer before proceeding with his address. Within the last few clays, he had received several lists of questions, some of them printed, asking him as one of the candidates for the city, to give replies to them. Hβ was also a3ked, upon an invitation from a body called the United Labour Electoral Committee, to appear before them and stato his views on the leading political questions of the day. lie had always declined to ans vver questions privately, or appear before any section of the electors, because he considered it was due to the olector.3 generally that he should first) call them together and Btato his views publicly before them, so that they might hear his views, and be able to put any questions that they might desire, and have them answered. Those being his he HAD DECLIN3D THE INVITATION to appear before the Labour Committee, and he would read them the invitation and liis roply. Tho invitation was as follows: — Tho United Labour Electoral Committee meets to-morrow evening in Robson's Rooma at seven o'clock. I am instructed by the Executive to send you an invitation, And to state that we "will be &lad to sec you for tho purpose of hearing your views upon our platform, ji copy of which lias been published. Hoping for a favourable reply,—l am, etc., AIiTHUR Desmond, Hon. Sec. To the invitation he had sent the following reply :— Mr Desmond,— Hon. Sec. United Labour Electoral Committee, — Sir,—The invitation to attend a meeting of the Executive of the above Committee, fov■warded tome by postcard, I found awaiting me on my arrival "home last evening, too late to enabic me to send you my reply in time for the meeting, which under other circumstances, as a matter of courtesy, I cerfcah-.ly should have done. I may say, however, that in any case I should (while thanking you for tho invitation) .have respectfully declined, belioving thut the duty of a cimditlafco is in tho first instance to place his views before the electors from a public platform, where all alike have the opportunity of hearing what one has to say. and of putting tUiestions. l may acid thai, several printed lists of queries have been sent me for replies, bur, I will hold them over till after Tuesday night's meetinsc, when I will reply to them on ti'.o lines Of my address to the electors.—Yours, etc.. Tiios. Tjeiomjpsox. He simply wished to pub that matter straight, so that none of his friends who forwarded lists of questions might think he had acted di3courtoously towards there. POSITION OP THE COLONS'. He need not trouble them with a mass of figures that evening, because an innumerable quantity of figures had been placed before them during the lasb few weeks. The position at tho present timo ■was that tho colony was heavily in debt), and a large proportion of the income of each year went to meet the charges for interest. Now the loan XQOney was nearly expended, and it was necessary to make the expenditure of the colony come within the incomo. There •were more ways than one by which it was suggested that thoy could, meet tho difficulty. One was that they should go in for another loan. (Laughter.) Many people an tho lasb Parliament wore in favour of going on the London market for another loan, believing that was necessary to the future prosperity of the country. Another means *o£ relieving ua of OUJ? trouble would be to make an alteration in the incidence of taxation, so that the burdens of taxation might rest moro fairly and equally xipon the taxpayers of tho colony than under the present system. (Applause.) Our loan money was now almost entirely expended, and in one sense he was not sorry, recognising that while there was loan money to be spent there would bo no real economy in the colony. (Applause.) This was his experience in the past. Having taken up tho position of one Of those who went in for true retrenchment and economy during the last Parliament, he found that while a few members were using their best endeavours to secure retrenehmenfc and economy, others who gave publicity to similar professions did not prove by their actions that thoy had been really in earnest in their electoral pledges in thab direction (applause), and by demanding works in different' parts of the colony increased the expenditure to such an extent a3 to necessitate further' borrowing. There were three points which he now wished to bring prominently before the electors. He could not take upon himself to point out) any royal road to prosperity. In the present condition of the colony nobbing bub drastic retrenchment, economy, and keeping clear of further borrowing would lead to anything in the shape of prosperity. (Applause.) ICO MORE BORROWI!JG. By going on the money market for another loan we mighb causo the colony to boom for a time, bub in the end it would leave us in a worse position than at the present time. (Applause.) There could be no satisfactory economy or satisfactory finance in the colony while we were expending borrowed money, and our aim, to his mind, should be to make the country prosperous by so altering the incidence of taxation and economical government that people would be induced to coma here, and to stay here, rather than by any artificial prosperity thab mighb arise through the expenditure pi borrowed money. With regard to the incidence of taxation ib was well known to many of the electors v/hom hchad had thehonour of representing in the lasb two Parliaments that he been unswervingly opposed to the property tax. (Applause.) He knew ib had been said, but not by anyone who knew him he presumed, that he was opposed to a LAND AND INCOME TAX. He thought he would be able to show before be safe down that on every possible occasion, whenever tho question had been brought up in the House upon a direct i issue, he had consistently voted and apoken I againeb the property tax cmd in favour of a

land and income tax. (Applause.) He had always been opposed to the property tax, because it pressed unduly upon some of tho taxpayers of the colony. He did nob believe ib was a tax that operated in the interests cf the colony. Ib waa a tax upon industry, and any tax that waa levied upon a man's work and upon tho labour ot" his hands must inevitably retard tho progress of the colony. (Applause.) Of course there vvas a great objection to the very name of a laud tax on the part of some people, especially these residing in country districts, and he could not understand how it was that farmers held such views. At the present tlmo, under tho porperty tax,' they were paying a land tux, their improvements were taxed, and everything , on their farms was taxed ; whereas under a land tax, all improvements would bo exempt and the farmers'would not have as much to pay as they did under the property tax. (Applause.) Again, it?had b'eenstated that tho poor man and the working man was exempt from the payment of property tax, bub thab v. as A FALLACY. Anyone who had studied fche question at all must know that the property tax being levied on personal property, and upon all goods in warehouses, must of necessity fall in the end upon the consumer, and the consumer did pay it. Ho thought any of the gentlemen in business in this town would tail them thab a largo portion of the goods in their stores had been taken into calculation for the payment of property tax for two or three successive year."?. If that was so, it was obvioue the merchant could not afford to bear the tax himsaif, and it must bo charged against tho consumer in the ordinary course of business. To clear up some doubts that seemed to exist as to hia advocacy of a land and income tax as opposed to a property tax he asked them to refer to Hansard of last year, and to lead up to what he waa about to read he related an interview he had with Mr Ballanco, leader of the Opposition, at Wanganui, on his way to Wellington. They discussed tho political situation, and amongst other things Mr Ballanco saftd ho recognised the utter futility of attempting to make, any change in the Government during tho session, bub there was ono point upon which they agreed, and thab was to do all in their power in favour of a land and income tax. (Applause.) He promised to support Mr Ballance in any direct vote taken against the property tax, and did .so on every occasion. (Applause.) When tho PROPERTY ASSESSMENT KILL was before the House, however, Mr Ballance mado no sign, raid Mr Moss proposed an amendment on the second reading of tho Property Assessment Bill, to this effect, "Tn'ah tho property tax is unfair in ita i;:-... lence, harassing in its eflects", and iir. obstacle to tlio progress and settlement} of the colony." (Applause.) That exactly described hia own foolings, as would be gathered from the following remarks he had mado in the House, as reported in " Hansard ":—" Now, sir, we have heard many good speeches from both sides of tho House on tins question, and it is not my intention, during the few minutes I shall occupy the attention of tho House, either to praise the Government) or to indulge in anything in the shape of abuse of these honourable gentlemen. I am not prepared, as seme honourable gentlemen said they wore, to say that all tho difficulties we are now labouring under are due to the action of one or two gentlemen who have held high positions in the House. I maintain that every successive Government wo have had in oiSce i≤ more or less responsible for the state of things which has prevailed in New Zealand for several years past; and nob only are Ministers responsible for our extravagant borrowing policy, bub that, responsibility can also be placed upon tho fehouldera of members who were sent to this House from time to fcimo bo protect tho interests of the colony, and I will go further and say thab tho electors of the colony are responsible. And now, having said so much, I will add this : Our object should be to do what we can to lessen the burdens in tho shape of taxation that are now crushing the life out of tho people of thia colony, and I think that any set of gentlemen sitting on tho Treasury benches who will seb their minds in all sincerity to attain thab object vili deserve well of the country. Speaking for myself, I have given, during the existence of the present Parliament, a fair and generous support to fche Ministry ab present on those benches. I do noS regret having done so, although I have |not agreed with all their measures, or with many things they have done. Now, a few words with regard to the measure beforo the House and the amendment proposed by the hon. member for Parnell. Ib is well-known thab I ana, and have ever been from its first introduction, strongly opposed to the property tax. I have not changed my mind. I believe it ii a tax on industry, thrift, and improvement. The Premier, of course, holds a very strong view in the opposite direction, and last session ha told some of us who were expressing our views very strongly about the tax that he did Jiob believe thab we fairly expressed in this matter the views of those whom we here represent. Subsequently fche honourable gentleman paid Auckland , a visit. A large assembly came to hear him, and listened very attentively ; bub I venture to think the decision was not at all gratifying to tho Premier. They told him in most unmietakeable terms that they were nob pleased with bho property tax ; and if the result of this debate should end in an appeal bo the country, I think the country will endorse the verdict then passed by the people of Auckland. We find this tax is acting injuriously upon us, and I have no doubb ib has contributed in a great measure towards driving from the colony some of our best sebtlers, and has been doing so for a considerable time past. Nob only are we losing what might be termed tho floating 'population, bat I know that in the parb of tho colony I come from a good many of our beet colonists have been .forced bo sell their homes and leave the place. I maintain thab this state of things is owing in a great measure—l will not say altogether—to the very pressing taxation which the people have now to bear ;" and further on he said, " I will only add this, that if the result of this debate be to ojecb tho Government from office I shall regret it, bub still ib is my duty to carry out my pledges and to acb according to my convictions ; and 1 shall not hesitate to do my duty, whatever the effect of my vote may be." (Applause.) Last session the property tax was challenged by an amendment on the question of going into committoo of supplybrought on by Mr Barrou,rnomher forCaverabam, on thab division ho voted with Mr Barron. Later on, when the Property Tax Bill was before the House, objection was taken to ib both on the third reading and on the proposal "That the Bill be'now passed," and on both divisions ho voted against the Bill, These were statements that could be verified by reference to Hansard, and he had taken up so much time with this subject in consequence of ib having been incorrectly stated that he waa nob in favour of a land and income tax. (Applause) Hie opinion was that a land tax, and if need be a graduated land tax, was what was required. lie did not say that co much for the purpose of burabing up large estates, but becauee.*he believed thab with a fair land tax tho holders of large estates would find it to their own interest to sell portions of their land to persons who would beneficially occupy them.. (Applause.) There was also the question of an INCOME TAX. It had been stated that a land tax would not bring in the amount of revenue required, but he was firmly of opinion that with the assistance we' could geb from a iudiciously imposed income tax, we could

get all that was required to take the place cf the property tax. (Applause.) There were many persons holding land here who were almost continuously absent from the colony. It was most) undesirable that persons in the colony who were desirous of occupying ani improving the land, should be kept out of occupation gimply because the land was held by absentees and others for speculative purposes. (Applause. ) He thought; a judiciously imposed land tax would remedy that defect. A return laid on tho table of the House laat session showed that the number of estates in the colony containing over 2,000 acrea and over £10,000 in value was 43 estates of 1,027,599 acres, representing- a value of £1,635,289, v. moats undesirable state of affairs. Another return showed that the real and personal property belonging to absentees amounted in value to £8,058,098, but of that a portion, under the heading of personal property, was taxed uuder tho property tax. TAXATION OP BONDHOLDERS. Another question that had been raised with regard to tho taxation of incomes was with regard to the proposal to tax bondholders. On this question hia inclinations and sympathy went entirely in the direction indicated, but always provided it could bo done legally and honestly. If, however, the colony had entered into an agreement as had been stated to pay this money without any deductions in London, and if any attempt to tax bondholders would be in the direction of repudiation, ho could not pupport ib. (Applause.) Ho had been in New Zealand for many years, and had endeavoured to meet his own engagements. Hβ had never repudiated any agreement or contract entered into, and as. the representative- of a section of the people, he would not bo prepared to do in a public capacity that which he would not do for himself. (Applause.) At the samo time, if no such engagement as that indicated existed, and the thing could be legally done, his inclination would be to make all persons drawing income from the colony contribute towards the taxation and the good government of the country. If thoy could not) do so, it would be a maltarfor consideration when any consolidation or conversion of our loans was proposed in tho future to impose term?) for the taxation of incomes derived from this colony. (Applause,) With regard to the land question, which was cho most important question they had to deal with at tho present time, and ono which had a great doal to do with the prosperity of tho country, ho way convinced that unless thoy could bring about tho SETTLEMENT OF THE LAND o£ tho colony they could not secure any redaction in taxation. (Applause.) Therefore;, every facility should be offered to inCloca people to tako up land, by allowing them to-take possession of it at as little cost as possible. At present our land laws were very liberal, and b.Q gave gl'eafe Credit both to the present Minister of Lands and his predecessor, Mr Ballanco, for improving tho facilities offered to the people for obtaining land for settlement;. Mr Ballance introduced whafc was known as the Village Settlement Scheme, and that had been successful wherever the people had been put on good land. Where the land had been of poor quality, tho experiment had naturally failed ; but otherwise, and especially in the South Island, it had been an unqualified success. (Apploneo.) Further encouragement should be given in this direction, but cnlv on condition that the laud available for "settlement should be good. Under tho present land laws there wore three systems under which land could bo taken up, viz., perpetual lenso, freehold, and deferred payments. From returns placed boforo tho House last session it appeared that tho , rijrPETUAL LEASE SYSTEM was the moffc popular, and, that being -bo, thoy must congratulate themselves, tor ho agreed with those who believed the tlmo had arrived when they should decide not to soil any more land for cash. (Applause.) For small settlers, at all events, the perpetual leasing system was tho most advantageous, in that whatever littlo capital a man had could be spent at tho outset in tho purchase of stock, and upon improvements. There were, however, several matters in connection with the land laws that required nmondmonb. Formerly land was obtained by sale at public auction, but this v/aa found to be unworkable becar.so of people bidding against each other, and undertaking to pay prices which they subsequently found they could not afford. In lieu of the auction, tho selection of land by ballot! had been adopted, and hero again an abuse had crept in in what was known as gridironing. . In his opinion, both eystoms were faulty, and should give place to a system of FREE SELECTION on settlement and improvement conditions. In 1888 the Land Amendment Acb was passed, under which power was given to any person to take up nob more than 2,000 acres of second-class land or 640 acres of firsß-clasa land ; bub on the ruling of Mr Justice Williams ib appeared that, inasmuch as there was nothing in the shape of first or second class land known to the law previous to the passing of that Act, any man, though the posßeeeor of 10,000 or 20,000 acres previously, was still entitled to take up 2,640 acres of land under the new land law. That Acb would require to be altered, so that persona holding large blocks of land should be debarred from acquiring more under the present land laws. (Applause.) It; was slso found thatpersonawho held land on perpetual lease or deferred payments, who had purchased their land ab auction, could nob continue to pay their rent, and it became necessary to introduce tho " Selectors' Re-valuation Bill." This was a measure drafted on the linea of the Fair Rent Bill, previously introduced by Sir Goorge Grey. On every occasion he (Mr Thompson) voted, for both of these measures. He believed the Selectors' Re-valuation Bill to bo an honest Liberal measme, and would vote for ib again. (Applause.) He also voted for the EIGHT HOURS BILL, which provided that in cases where any dispute should arise, there being no agreement co tho contrary, eight hours shouldbe regarded as a legal day's work. He aleo voted for Sir Goorge Grey's " one man one vote " Bill (applause), so that on the whole ho thought his actions certainly v/ould nob bear oub the abatement that he was "a rank-Sory," as had been alleged. (Applause.) It had also been charged against him thab while he professed himself a Liberal he supported A CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT. Many of them would recollect that afe the eloae of the Parliament in 1887, when the Stoub-Vogel Ministry was in power, a majority of the Auckland members wore returned pledged against Sir Julius Vogel. The cry then was " Ketrenchmenb and" no Vogel," and no member could have been returned had he promised to support Sir Julius Vogel in any Ministry thab might be formed. When the House meb in the following session it was found that a majority of members were returned opposed to the the Stout-Vogel Ministry, and than Ministry immediately resigned. The Governor sent for Sir Harry Atkinson and asked him to form a Ministry. Sir Harry Atkinson took time to consider, and called a meeting at which all the raembers ot the House opposed to Sir Julius Vogel were present, including himself, Sir George Grey, and most of the other Auckland members. Sir Harry Atkinson put the matter before the meeting, and it was fully discussed. Sir George Grey strongly recommended the meeting to accept Sir Harry Atkinson, and requested thab he should form a Ministry, but personally declined to take office, be-.

lieving he could be of more assistance while exercising perfect freedom, more especially as there were one or two questions upon which he and Sir Harry Atkinson were nob agreed. Thab meeting agreed to give a general support to the Atkinson Government, but many of them having very strong feelings with regard to the property tax, reserved the right to vote against ie at any time when it canio before the House on a direct issue, even if it involved the defeat of the Government. He (Mr Thompson) kept that promise, and on every occasion voted ajjainsD the property tax. On the other hand, they could nob support THE Ori'OSITION, because Mr Ballance, the leader of that party, was one of a Ministry who had declared that no further retrenchment could be effected. Ho was also one who had professed to be a strong supporter of a land and income tax against the property tax, but for the three years he was in office his Government) made no effort to substitute one for the other. Mr Ballance had also declared himself against a reduction in the number of members, aud against any reduction of honorarium, Ministers' salaries or the Governor's salary. Under these circumstances many of them considered they would be besb consulting the wishes of their constituents and the interests of the colony by, under certain conditions, and with certain reservation supporting the preaent Ministry. Last session when the House met there was a lob of tnme wasted, including a no-confidonco debate, and the discussion of CHARGES MADE AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT by Mr Hutchison. To this latter subject ho (Mr Thompson) did not wish to refer, as it waa at the present time the subject of an action in the Supreme Court. At the game time, he expressed the opinion that the matter should have been dealt with in some other way. A Committee of the House was appointed to investigate the charges, but on thab Committee there were four members from each side of the House, and it became a party question upon which no decision could be arrived at. Hβ (Mr Thompson) would any this much : Thai) if one titho of what) was chargod against the- Government by Mr Hutchison was true, they should have- been ousted from office. An offer was made by the Governmont for inquiry into these charges which ha fchoughb would have been much more satisfactory than the appointment of a Committee. Mr Hutchison was aaked to choose ono of the judges of the Supremo Court to act> with a member of his own side of the Houseandamemborof thoGovernmontpary, to inquire into the charges and report to the Houso. This waa a very fair proposal, and far preferable to the appointment of a Committee which ended in a deadlock. Mr Hutchison declined to avail ,hims<alf of this offer. Tho charges were no'iv about to be tried In the Supreme Court, amd in the meantime ib was not wise to comment upon thorn. During tho sossicin a great deal of time was wasted in USELESS TALK, whilo very litblo business was' transactedThree or four members of (she House occupied more time in talking than all the other members of tho House put together, and that had given rise to serious consideration as to the advisability of altering the rules of procedure to enable them to pub in force whab was known as the "clobure." His own view on this subjecb was that while strongly objecting to the serious waste of time that takes place every session, of two evils they should choose the lesser, and not attempt to restrict the right of free speech on the'part of any representative of the people. (Applause.) For himself, lie confessed he did not fill many pages of Hansard, bub did not chirk hie work. (Applause.) THE RRTHENCIIMEXT CRTTSADK. Those members who wore giving tho Government a general support, waited upon the Premier early in the cession and told him they could nob continue this supporb unless he took back the estimates and reduced them by at leasb £50,000. Tno Premier objected to this, and said no Ministry could take back their estimates in this way, but they persisted, and he eaid if the estimates were reduced tho reductions must be made on tho services of the country, and tha people would be deprived of maay conveniences. Upon that statement being made, the retrenchment party reserved the right to discuss each of the votes in Committee. The Opposition, however, proposed to effect reductions to the extent of £100,000, and had they been sincere they might have done co, bub the reaulb was that the total reductions only amounted to £45,000 against £50,000 which the retrenchmepb party bad been promised in the first instance. (Applause.) For these and other reasons he had given a conditional support to tho Government. The Government did nob do overythingthey wanted, but wore induced by the representations made by tho retrenchment party to do a great deal in the way of securing economy. There was room tor further retrenchment. They wanted the whole of the Civil Service reformed, considerable reductions could be made in the amalgamation of offices. Six years ago, in the Temperance Hall, he advocated tho wiping out of the Native Department, and he was of the same mind still, while ho believed the Public Works Department could also be done away with. The loan money waa spent, and there was nothing more to expend upon public works, so .that there was no need to continue to keep up this expensive department. (Applause.) There could be very large reductions made by getting rid of persons who were nob required in various offices. It was nob 'bo much a question of high salaries, for the junior clerks were nob overpaid, but the fact thab there were moro men employed than there was work for. Hβ believed they could make such reductions in tho cost of governing the country as would enable them to bring about in the near future a reduction of taxation rather than an increase. (Apolause.) DEFENCE EXPENDITURE. Defence was a very extravagant ifceui, but he said at the time of the Russian scare that those who were howling loudest for the expenditure would be the first to regret it when they had to pay for ife. A Government who refused to yield to tho popular demands at that time would nob hold office for a week, and the expenditure was really forced upon the Stout-Vogel Government. However, we had provided ourselves wifch forte and defences, and unless we kept pace with modern improvements the defences would be no use. His opinion was thab outside our volunteers and torpedo force we would have t« depend upon outside aid in. the form of a British cruiser. Hβ had last session opposed the proposals made by the Defence Minister in the direction of the establishment of a standing army, by the employment of a partially-paid force and the einploytnenb of Imperial officers. EDUCATION. Mr Thompson proceeded to refer to the education question. Hβ was strongly in favour of a free and secular system of education, and although he knew thab in certain respects it bore hardly upon many of his friends who, from conscientious motives, did not avail themselves of the State schools, he would still continue to opposo any interference with it. Hβ must still say that he was an opponent of denominationalism, and would oppose, as he had hitherto done, tho proposals for Biblereading ia schools. He waa convinced that by adopting the principle of Bible-reading in eehools, they would give tangible reason to one clasßof the community, wboatpresenfc, held aloof from the system, for claiming I assistance towurtla tho education of their

children. He thought thab considerable reduction could be made in tha education vote, but it must be in secondary education. Hβ could not consent to interfere with the expenditure on primary education. He thought one university was sufficieubfor the colony, while he would take the endowments for secondary education, and put them all in one pob as it wore, using the proceeds in the establishment of scholarships open to the children of all, and also of lessening the cost of primary education. Parents who could afford to do so should pay for the education of their children beyond a certain point. Hβ was opposed to the school ago being raised to seven years, though ho might be willing to agree to six. The cost of secondary education was £25 per head, while the cost of primary education was £5 per head. The education departments in some of the Southern districts were not so economically administered as in Auckland, but he waa still of opinion that the reduction must ba made off secondary and not primary education. THE KAILWAY3. Referring to the railways, Mr Thompson said ha was not in favour of the railways being 3old. lie was still-of opinion that Vaile's railway system should have a trial, and ho did not approve of the railways being handed over to the Commissioners. He did not approve of their management of the railways, and in his opinion railways should bo run in the interest of settlement and the settlers rather than as a purely taxing machine. Evidence taken before the Committee of which he was Chairman lasC year, disclosed such a state of affairs in connection with the Stores Department) of tho railways, that the Committee passed a strong resolution urging a searchiug inquiry into the management of the Railway Stores Department. The matter was referred to the Railway Commissioners, and their decision wa3 that they did nob 860 any necessity for an inquiry. And yeb, as a matter of fact, , the evidence taken before that Committee showed such gross mismanagement of the Stores Departments thab had such a state of things existed in any private establishment the men concerned, instead of being required to appear before a Committee of Inquiry, would probably have found themselves in Mount Eden. One reason why ho opposed the sale of the railways was that this would lead to what he strongly objected to, viz., monopoly. If they were sold to a syndicate or any body of man this was what would obtain, that the purchasers would make it their object to obtain large blocks of land in tho direction in which the linea were to run, and would not work the railways in the interests of the public except where those blocks lay. The blocks in question, too, would only b6 hold for speculative purposes,, and not in the interests of settlement. It was said tbafc the money thus derived from the sale of the railways would be devoted to the extinction of tho national debb of the colony, but he did not believe that one penny would go to that purpose. In fact, thare would be such a scramble for the money that it would not last long, and then we would have lose our railways and would efctll have our national debt. Ho was firmly of the impression that the best thing we could do waa to stick to our lauds, such as we had got, and stick to our railways, and alter the incidence of taxation on the linea he bad indicated, namely, a land and income tax instead of a property tax. This wa3 the best policy to follow. CIVIL SERVANTS , FRANCHISE. The question had been asked of him whether he would be willing to disfranchise Civil servants, and to that question he emphatically would say No. He would be eorry to disfranchise any man, and take from him the right of voting for any set of men to represent him in Parliament. Ho thought it undesirable that Civil servants should fiart take in elections, but be would never be a party to .prevent a man from the exorcise of his vote freely. LABOUR QUESTION" AND THE STRIKES. There was another question, and as most of tho speakers had alluded to it in their addresses to the electors, ho would not hesitate to express his opinion on it. Ho referred to tho labour question and the late strikes. Those who knew him knew that all his pympathies had been, aad must Btill be with the working classes. He had been a workman for mauy years pasts, and he was a working man sfcill. His sympathies were entirely with Unionism, and he believed it waa a first-class thing. They were told that " Union was strength," and he firmly believed in the principle. But at the same time he did not believe in persecution. He did nob believe that one man should say to another, who is not a Unionist, " You shall nob work beside me." He should rather show the other man the benefits of Unionism, and attract him to become*'& member. Then with regard to the past strike, and he hoped that he could truthfully allude to it aa the past, obey must admit that it had been disastrous alike to the strikers, to the employers, and to the colony generally. The men who took part in thai; strike mußb be admired for their loyalty to their Cause, but it was utterly foolish on the part) of the Onions in this colony to connect themselves with a quarrel with which the people of New Zealand had nothing whatever to do. Ha had already said that he believed in Unionism, bub let the Unions of New Zealand keep to New Zealand. If they sympathised with tjieir brethren in Australia or elsewhere, it was nob necessary to go out on strike to show that sympathy. They would be in a better position to render assistance, if they remained in employment drawing their wages, and thus be enabled to give financial aid to the others in their trouble. It was nob fair, too, when one Union had a dispute with the employers thab the other Unions should also be called oufc. Those men who had no grievance should continue in full work, and thus they could give assistance to thoso who were out on strike. If they were all called out, where were they ?—all wanting asfiatance. Then again, those at the head of Unionism should see bhatfstrikes should become an impossibility. All these differences between employers and employees could be settled by Boards of Conciliation, on which both sides , Bhould be equally represented, and those should be so constituted fehab bho decisions would have legal effect. Strikes would then be avoided and their disastrous effects prevented. There was another point to which great importance should bo attached. If it became necessary to call men out on strike, the responsibility should nob rest upon two or three men. The whole body of men who were interested should be consulted, and the extreme step should only be taken on their decision fay vote. They were the men who had to suffer, and they should certainly have tho decision in their own hands, CONCLUSION. There were, no doubt, a great many questions to be pub to him, and he would not take up much more of their time except to say again thab the three cardinal points of his platform were a land and incomo tax in preference to a property tax, no increase of taxation, and no further borrowing either inside the colony or outside of it. He would tell them why he said he would nob borrow inside tho colony. The proposal had a catchy sound, bub ho feared thab if they borrowed in the colony the money would really come from outside, and the interest would still have to be paid to foreign capitalists who, under the new system, would receive a higher rate of interest. Ac the samo time ib was absolutely necessary thab they should keep up the supply of land for settlement, and if ib were necessary to raise money to acquire further native land for settlement) jjmjyosea he

would not object to the issue of shortdated debentures, those debentures to be recouped out of the sale of the land. It should alao be the duty ot the Government to do all they could to facilitate the passage of native land through the Court, so that those lands might be made to share tho taxation equally with European lands. And now, in closing his address, ho wished to say that he had represented to the best of his ability a portion of tho City of Auckland for the laet six years. It wa3 true that he had nob filled many pages of " Hansard," bub he had done his duby to the electors and to the country. Hβ had never shirked a vote, and had never been absent from the House one hour whila ib was sitting. For four sessions ho had been elected Chairman of the Public Petitions Committee, and though some people thought he was paid for big services in connection with that position, he just received— nothing. The duties of the office were onerous, ib involved a great deal of hard work, and occupied much of his time. At the same time the position was a purely honorary one. He mentioned all this to show that he had worked hard during his Parliamentary career. He had never falsified one of his pledges, and had faithfully carried out all the promises he had made to his constituents. Afc the same time, he had never sought any benefit for himeolf or any of his friends afc the hands of the Government. Now, ib was their duty to say whether they would give him support on the sbb December. If they did so, he would endeavour to the. best of his ability to serve "the country and this city in the future as faithfully aa he had done in the past. Ab the same time, if they thought that the other candidates would serve them better than he, it would be their duty to vote for them, and he assured them he would not be worae friends with them when it was all over. If, on the other hand, they thought he fairly represented them, he asked them to do as they had done in the pact and give him their support. Mr Thompson concluded amidab loud cheers. In reply to questions, Mr Thompson said he was in favour of tho abolition of Bellamy's, and the only reduction in that establishment was made on his motion in committee. Hβ was not in favour of the property tax. He would be in favour of removing tne banking accounts of the colony to any bank that would give better terms. Henever had a share in tbeßankof New Zealand in his life, he never did a shilling's worth of business in it in his life, and ib did not affect him in the slightest degree. He was nob in favour of the closing of hotels on polling day. Hotelkeepers had to pay a heavy license fee, and if the hotela were closed on any such day, a corresponding reduction should be made in the license fee. He thought, there was room for considerable further reduction in the Public Works Department. He did not think it a bad_ plan, if in serious cases of complaint aeainst a constable, that the constable should have the right of appeal to the Resident Magistrate if not satisfied with the decision of the Inspector. He thought constables should have copies of charges made against them. He thought ib unfair if young men who happened to pass the constable's examination should be placed above the heads of old and experienced constables. He thought it only fair that constables should have four hours off in turn on Sundays. He was in favour of constables as well as Resident Magistrates and Judges being shifted occasionally. He voted against the franchise being extended to women. There was no evidence before them that the women wanted it. Hβ believed thab where the woman was head of the house and there was no man there, she should be allowed to exercise her vote. Hβ would vote for fche abolition of the totalisator. While it had assisted the large meetings; its had multiplied country or totalisator meetings, offering incentives to young people to gamble. The next best thing to abolishing the totalisator was to tax it. He thoughb it would be a right thing to declare polling day a holiday so that the working man might exerciso his franchise. But how aboub payment? His own experience was that distilleries had exercised such an effect on the revenuee that the Government had to buy them out, and he would oppose such concessions for the future. He believed in local option as a principle, bub without compensation ib would be very unfair. Hβ had, however, no sympathy with houses thab did nob comply with the provisions of the Licensing Act. He did not think ib would be wise to place a duby oa baulk timber unless ib was being shipped away in large quantities to the detriment of our workers. He -yoted for the appointment of the Committee of inquiry into Mr Hutchison's charges. He would support a Bill to protect the public against swindling stockbrokers and mining agents. The State Bank was a question thab he had not gone into sufficiently to enable him to say whether he would support it) or not. His own impression was thab the time might come when ib was necessary to make a move in thab direction, bub he did nob think a State Bank was ab present within the range of practical politics. He was in favour of the Truck Bill, and had invariably supported ib. He did nob oppose the Labour Bills, bub on the contrary supported them, as (they wero drafted on the recommendations of tho Sweating Commission of which he wae a member. Hβ had invariably supported Sir George Grey in his Liberal measures. Mr H. T. Garratt, amidst loud applause, moved a vobe of thanks to and confidence in Mr Thompson as a fit and proper person to represenb the City in Parliament. If they wished for a candidate who would painb a nice word picture, and who would do a great deal of balk and no work, they should nob vote for Mr Thompson. Oα the other hand, if they required a man of integrity and honesty of purpose, and a representative who would work and vote conscientiously, they should vote straight for Mr Thompson. Mr John Bell seconded the motion. He believed Mr Thompson was one of the straighbesb members we ever had in the House, barring none. We did nob want talking machines in the House, bub men' who would work and vote straight). The motion was carried almosb unanimously, a ioresb of hands being held up for it, and only four against it>. Mr Thompson thanked the audience for the expression of confidence, and on his motion a vote of thanks was passed to the Chairman.