BEFORE ELECTIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 149, 24 June 1911, Page 8

BEFORE ELECTIONS.

Iffi. W. F. MASSEY AT PUKEKOHE.

IX REPLY TO HO> T . G. FOWLDS.

There was a gathering of something J like 200 electors of Franklin, who packet! tuc .Masonic Hail at Pukekohe yesterday evbniag, when Mr. W: "F."Massey, H.P., leader of the Opposition, addressed his constituents. He was supported by Mr. X.. H. Phillips, MiP. for "Waitcniata. Jar- li. F. Webster, chairman of the Town Board, presided, and introduced the speaker, who was received with applause. Mr. Massey prefaced his speech proper with a reference to the Coronation and the Imperial Conference. He knew they woukl all join with him in wishing Their Majesties a long and happy reign, bringing progress and prosperity to the people that made up tiie dilierent nations which belonged to the great Empire, of ■which the people of New Zealand formed no unimportant part. Concerning the matters dealt with at the Imperial Conference, he stated that it appeared to be our clear duty to get in a position to defend ourselves, and in the next place to assist financially in maintaining the supremacy of the Imperial navy. At the conclusion of his remarks in this connection he called for three, cheers for the King and Queen, itrhich were neartily given. Mr. Massey ■went on to deal with some remarks made by the Hon. G. Fowlds, at Pukeiohe, concerning 6ingle tax. The speech, he said, was made up partly of abuse of him (Mr. Massey), and partly of advo- . cacy of the single tax. The abuse was a compliment rather than otherwise, but when a man stood on the platform at Pukekohe, and stood, for single tax it was the speaker's, duty to put the other 6ide of the question. Single tax meant in the first piace the abolition of all other taxes, and in the next place, of putting the whole burden of the revenue of the country on the land. But the hon..gentleman went further. He stated that the railways be run free, and the cost of running them should be collected by a tax on the land values. That might be expected from a gentleman whose headquarters were in Queenstreet. It meant that such a gentle,man might take a free journey to Rotorua, and have a free lunch on the way, look at the farmers working in the field a.t Pukekohe, and think that those farmers were paying f orthe outing. That was single -tax. The principle on which ~ taxation was 'based-was that °ve.ry man in the community should contribute to th•• revenue of the country in proportion to his ability. Single tax said "No." It ■ proposed to divide the people into two classes —the people -who had an. interest in Land, and those who had no interest in lar.d. It proposed to take the burdens off those who had no interest in Irind, and put them all on the penpfe who had_.an. interest in land. There were o< few wealthy people in the couni ry' with incomes "of £ 10,000 and up■wacde wji.ose incomes, did not come from ~ thl'land, and they were taxed according' io their incomes, while people with incomes less than £300 a year were exempt from taxation. Under single tax those wealthy.people would not be called on for a single copper of tax, but 4he people on the land would- find their taxation multiplied, perhaps by ten. Under the present system of land taxation nobody paid tax that was not possessed of £500 > unimproved, yajue.. _~JJcw, Mr. Fowlds, put pf_ purq. cussedness, said 'they must not allow those-people to-go free any longer. The small farmer and the working man who owned a section were to pay the tax. The hon. Minister said tax them every time, and when once the, exemption was done away with duplicate the- tax. -- Mr. ■' Massey stated that he was not ■ a protectionist, but seeing that people had their money invested in industries one had to ibe careful about interfering with them. Single tax came along, out went the protective tariff. Then along came the cheap goods manufactured in the slums of Europe, or of New, York, or in Eastern countries, .and without protection the factories would be closed, down, and tho operatives .would be thrown into competition with, people in other employment, or thrown out of the country. His firm impression -was that:single tax was either Tobbery or insanity, he didn't know •which. The speaker referred to a statement he had made Glevedon, -which the Hon. G-.-Fowlds Sad endeavoured to ridicule. His statement was that there ■was a special tax on money lent on mortgage on landed security. He explained that this was an indirect tax. If a man 'borrowed £ 6000 at five per cent on the security of his land the interest was £300, and there was a. mortgage tax on that £300 amounting to £18 odd, and that tax was indirectly passed on to the borrowing farmer by being added to the interest. £300 drawn from any other source was exempt from the tax. The result was the tendency ■to.unduly increase the' rate of interest ■which the man of the land had to pay. The remedy he suggested was to make available for lending, to settlers on the

security of their land, the Post Office Savings Bank/deposits; instead of using them for Government finance. Regarding Mr. Fowlds' f remarks as to his statements on the over-valuation of land, Mr. Massey stated that the Minister for Education quoted his figures from the old valuation made five or six-years ago. He reiterated that there was- a great overvaluation, and quoted comparative figures showing that a property, valued under the -old valuation at £2840, was at last valuation valued at £5900, and another property had similarly aone up from £2160 to £4140. There was no doubt in his mind that the valuations in many cases were too high. His suggested remedy was to re-instate on° the Statute Book the excised clause nrothat where, an owner thought he was valued too highly he could ask the government to take the property at the valuation placed on ;it. Mr. Massev, devoted a full hour to replying to Mr. Powlds, passed on to General poht.eswhich he dealt with on the Kne if 1 wi 01 mi . He :r,.iioritv wpro Mt'+i, ' the great

tion should be given to the people. Replying to a charge that his sta-tements had injured the credit of the country, ne denied this, and retorted that a statement made by the Prime Minister in a speech at Devonport, was more calculated than any other statement yet made, to operate against the country's credit. He concluded with remarks on the excessive cost of the Hutt, Mosgiel, and Penrose railway duplications, the land legislation of the country and the native lands question. On the last-mentioned point he stated the conclusion, that the Hon. Jas. Carroll had done more injury to the country and to the native race than any other man who ha-d ever lived in New Zealand. After the speech a motion of thanks and confidence (proposed by Mr. W. Pilkington, and seconded by Mr. C. J. Lawrie) was passed, and three cheers were given for the member.