THE GENERAL ELECTION.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 237, 3 October 1908, Page 9

THE GENERAL ELECTION.

THE PAENEI-L SEAT. AODRESS BY MR. MQSSMr E. G. B. Moss, who is standing for the Parnell as an Independent candidate, opened his campaign in the jSewmarket Hall last night. Mr P. Bennett (Mayor of Newmarket) presided. There was a good attendance considering the inclemency of the weather. The name Moss, the chairman reminded the audience, was well known politically in Parnell, the candidate's father having represented the constituency for a number of years. POLITICAL I_ro___?___Nl>ENC___. Mr Moss announced himself as an Independent, and stated distinctly that it was incorrect that he was standing as an adherent of the present Oppositipn. TTfa reason for claiming political independence was that he was not a strong party man. He did not believe in the Premier or any other leader having the power to make a question a party question. This power put the Premier in the light of a dictator, for, if ia chose, he could, by making an issue __ party question, cause the members to gink their own principles and follow hitn. None bnt a fool claimed always to bo right. Last year, said the candidate, when the Tariff Bill was going through, after the Government had lost a paltry division on the question of duty on mining machinery, the Premier threatened a dissolution, which threat brought hia followers into line. If there was a question of very strong principle before ihe country it would not be objectio.nablo that members should be tied to a leader, but at the present time there was no question of extreme importance before the country. Until this objectionable feature of New Zealand politics was ] eLimsnated ho would not join either party. In the three years during which ho had been in the House he had never attended a cs_uc__- o! cither side. This power, which he termed "this dictatorial power," had arisen about 30 years ago, when it was extended to the late Sir' George Grey, who was fighting for manhood suffrage and short parliaments, it , being thought advisable to gyve "_ii_a every ounce of power that he could command. The desire to retain this tempor-arily-given power was one of the causes of a split in the leader's party. One of the first to show rcstiveness was the speaker's fath_r, then a member oi the House. In .nssquence, Sir George got the strongest man he could to oppose Mr Moss at the next election, but on the Newmarket vote Mr Mobs was returned. Newmarket there showed its appreciation of independence. SEO-RECY AND SUPPRESSION. The candidate, in criticising the methods of the Government, Condemned "the suppression of information, especially information about financial matters." He complained that civil servants were not allowed to give information to members, who had to go to the Ministers. No Minister had a right to decline to give information. A Minister '•vas only a trustee; the people owned the property. What, ho asked, would be thought of an ordinary trustee who declined to produce books and vouchers, or a Mayor who refused information to a ratepayer? He instanced the Shannon case. Secrecy and squander, ho continued, invariably went hand in hand. He had no faith in a country where there was secrecy in respect of its accounts, and he did not believe that the country got the full value of its money. If there was nothing to hide, why this secrecy ? THE SERVANT OF WHOM? Supposing, asked Mr. Moss, that he owed his election to either Ward or Massey, whose servant would he be? Would he be the servant of tlie electors or the servant of his political creator. If he was of the Government party and did not obey them if elected, the Government would say, ''We will run a man against you next election." Until recently the interference in an election by a Minister on behalf of the candidate ho championed would have been fatal to tiiat candidate. The people in those days preferred a member of their own and resented interference. ADMINISTRATION OP THE LAWS. The candidate reiterated the oftheard cry generally Bent forth by the Opposition: "It is useless to pass good laws unless we have clean and efficient administration." He raised the question of whether or not incompetents were being pitchforked into the public service, and the service being used as a votecatcher. There should bo a Public Ser. Tico Board, he «aid. Given power and money, abuses, if not corrnption, would, in time, creep in with the addition of secrecy. No one could doubt it. Ho had no faith in the Government administration being clean. He did not believo in its giving way to the poltical pull for vote-catching, in its waste and squander, or its ingenuity in manufacturing fancy departments. If a motion of no-con-fidence in the Government were tabled he would vote for such motion. SOCIALISM. The speaker urged the Socialists to consider what the position would be if the Government was the oniy employer of labour. If a worker then lell out with an under-boss he could not get employment elsewhere. They would have to break up their homes and quit the country. THE BEST TENURE. He described himself as a freeholder— (applause)—and alleged that all the Minißteru owned freehold. l.ot one of them owned leasehold; they would not own such a thing. Look at Parnell— once the beFt suburb in Auckland! What killed it? Leasehold. And how many of the leaseholds fell into the hands of the working man? The speaker once thought that the Maori landlords were the worst in the world, but after the quaint way in which the Government bad treated its Paeroa tenants, he thought thait the Government niii tho Maori very close. MEMBERS' RIGHT. A member, he held, should be free and able- to speak and vote according to conscience. It was no use putting a pugilist in the ring with his hands tied. He asked if his constituents wanted a member of their own or to add another joint to the long tail of a-political leader. If they wanted the latter they vanted a courtier, not a member; and he did not want a billet as a courtier. The jiresent conception of "party", included the sinking of principles if the party required tnem sunk. He thought there was a good deal to be said in favour of two-year Parliaments, especially as a stimulus to. political interest; people now took little interest in politics until jnsl before an election, and this indifference was fatal.

THE GOVERNING OP THE COUNTRY. He was'not in favour of. ousting the Government for another pa,rty unless a distinct gain to the country was,to ensure. New Zealand did not want much fresh legislation at present. The only laws which needed material alteration were those dealing with patronage and the power to spend the country's money secretly. . . " All new countries, he admitted, had to borrow, but the question was, how much should .they borrow? He expressed the opinion that it was unwise to borrow in the Dominion, and said that the late Mr Seddon was a more cautious man in financial matters than our present Prime Minister. He objected to a portion of the borrowed money being used to bring immigrants here. There were ' 682 arriving by. the Athenic. (A Voice: "Quite right!") Yes; they were brought here, and then we had to borrow more to find them work. Speaking of the borrowing;-and its alleged surplus, ho likened the position to -that of a man who had borrowed £ 5 to go to the races, returning with 30/-, and saying that he had made 30/-, whereas he had only borrowed That amount too much... '.'.„_ THE IJWEaiP-LOYED AND LABOUR LAWS. Touching on the subpect of the unemployed, the candidate said that the time woidd come when we would have to make provision for these unfortunates. He hoped that he would never witness in New - Zealand' the sad sight of men going about willing to work and unable to get it. In a reference to labour laws, ho said that now that landlords had no security for rent, they did not build small tenements which would suit the workers, but villas to rent at 25/- and 30/----weekly. LOCAL OPTION. He said that he was a No-license man, but not a prohibitionist. He admitted that he was not sufficiently self-sacri-ficing to forego the pleasure he received from alcohol for the sake of those weaker than he. His reasons for. supporting No-license were that the liquor was not good enough for him, and that he objected to monopoly. The "trade" at present held such power that it interfered in politics,' and even brought its influence' to bear on the Courts of Justice. He was not in favour.of the question being decided on a bare majority. SECOND BALLOT BILL. In dealing with the Second Ballot Bill, he made special reference to the "gag" clause as an evidence of "that unfortunate weakness of the Premier of trying to stop people from talking." HIS POSITION SUMMARISED. - The candidate summarised his position by saying that he would not join either party while the leaders were invested with the dictatorial power he had alluded to, and that he would vote against the j | (-ovemraent if a vote was taken on 1 the ground that its administration was , unclean and incompetent, or on its antifreehold policy. (Applause.) The candidate received a vote of thants and confidence.

WATTKMAVa.

Mr H. W. Wilding addressed a meeting in the Foresters' Hall, Birkenhead, last evoning, the chair being occupied by Mr Alex. Keyes, Mayor of Birkenhead. Owing to the inclemency of the weather, there was only a small attendance. The candidate briefly addressed the meeting in an informal manner, dwelling principally on defence, land, and arbitration matters. He also announced that he would visit Birkenhead and Birdale districts again in about a fortnight, when he hoped to be favoured with better weather and a large attendance. In reply to questions, the candidate said he was in favour of the present licensing laws, and the compulsory training of all young men for military Borvice, At tho request of tho candidate, tho usual vote of thanks and confidence was not proposed, owing to the small number persent.-