THE GENERAL ELECTION

Press, Volume XLVIL, Issue 7698, 1 November 1890, Page 6

THE GENERAL ELECTION

MR- A. K. G. RHODES AT TBMUKA. Mr A. E. G. Rhodes, one of the candidates for the Geraldine constituency at the approaching general election, addressed a meeting of electors •* *J« Volunteer Hall, Temuka, on Thursday evening. There was a very Im and representative attendance and the meeting was very orderly. Mr James Blyth, Chairman of the Town the chair, and bespoke for Mi' Rhodes as patient a hearing as they had always hitherto accorded the different gentlemen addressing them. . - Mr Rhodes said :-Mr Chairman and Gentlemen,—l am present this evening m a two-fold capacity; first as your representative for the past three years, and secondly as a candidate for your suffrages at the approaching election. Prior to giving a retrospect of the last session I may be permitted to mention the loss the colony and this district m particular has sustained through the death of Mr Richard formerly member for Timans. known Sir Turnbull nearly all my We the few words I have to say before the turmoil of the election begins may not be deemed inappropriate. I shall always remember the kindly sympathy he displayed towards mc when I entered the House, and his willingness, whenever possible, to co-operate with and assist mc In any matter of interest to the district. (Applause). The announcement of his death was received with ?aiversal expressions of regret, not only in the House, but throughout the Provincial District o£ Canterbury. The last session wan almost entirely wasted by leaefthy, and, for the most part, wearisome discussions, principally on three subjects—<l) A no-confi-dence motion, (2) Mr Hutchison's charges against the Government, (3) The "Bf">--fiints " attempt to cut down salaries. Ane NO-OOXFUJENCB DEBATE took place upon a motion of Mrßallance'e, but it never went to a division. If carried it would have put the country to the expense of a double session, and I am sure the country did not wish that. The Government promised to hold the elections as early as possible, and call the House together immediately after the end of the financial year, viz., in April. The election, however, has since been delayed for a ;; few weeks. The rolls, owing to the *~ alteration of boundaries and other causes, were found to be in such a bad state that time was neeaed to rectify them, and to enable those whoae names were omitted to register their claims to vote. Into THE HUTCHISON CHABGES I should not have gone this evening weire it not that Mr Hutchison's last speech —that of August 22nd—has been widely circulated through this constituency, by my opponents with a statement that there has been no answer to the charges contained therein. With the nature of these charges the bulk of those here present have doubtless made themselves acquainted. No doubt it is unfortunate that Ministers or members of Parliament should be largely indebted to public companies, or even to individuals, but I hardly think that a democratic country like New Zealand is prepared on that account to debar them from holding public office. There seems to be little doubt of the fact that members not only of the present, but of the previous. Ministries, have been largely icdebted to the Bank of New Zealand, but it has not been proved that on account of this indebtedness the Ministers have financed the Public Account in tJtue interest of the bank and not to the Interest of the country. Until a prima fade case should be shown that the public funds had been manipulated in the interest of the bank, the House refused to allow the private indebtedness of Ministers to be enquired into. I think you will admit that until maladministration has been proved cause for such maladministration should not be sought for, especially when the course proposed would expose the private accounts of numbers of persons besides those actually concerned. Mr Hutchison declined to go on with the proof of maladministration and the enquiry fell through. Nothing -was clearly proved except that a Committee of the House of Representatives is an unsatisfactory tribunal before which to try charges against members of the House. Personally, I believe the charges are unfounded, and that the memorandum by the Colonial Treasurer convincingly proved such to be the case. TJue tab les therein contained were furnished by *Mr Gavin, the Secretary to the Treasury. If the charges could be anything like proved I should certainly be prepared to oust the Ministry. (Applause.) I aim afraid there is not time this evei i> ing to go through Mr - HutchJson's last speech, but I will &ho«r how. full of inaccuracies it is. The first matter dealt with is the New Plymouth Harbor Loan. The advance was made to prevent the default of the Harbor Board affecting the 3& million Conversion Loan. This advance may have been a mistake, bat the Premier was not alone, to blame for it. Before the advance was made the whole matter was laid before the Public Accounts Com mittee, and the Premier took Mr Ballance's opinion upon the matter. He (the Premier) stated to the Committee that as Mr Ballance agreed with him that the advance should be made he would take the responsibility without any expression of opinion from the Public Accounts Committee. A notice of motion bad been given that the Government should not make the advance, but the Committee refused to express an opinion upon this, and Mr Larnach moved the previous question, Mr Ballance voting 'with him. As proof that Mr Ballance was at that time in favor of the advance I may quote a passage from Hansard in which he ■ admits it. [Passage quoted.] I can vouch for the truth of this, as I was present on - the Committee at the time. Even if the advance were a mistake there was no corruption on the part of the Government, for the leading members of both sides of the House were convinced of the expediency of the course. The next serious charge was that of aiding the Bank of New Zealand with money. This : Is the main charge,andwas fullyanswered by the memorandum of the hon. the Colonial Treasurer, which showed that during the two years and a half the present Government have been in office, from the Bth October, 1887, to the 31st March, 1890, the daily average balance in the London Public Account was £134,860; the daily average balance of the late Government for the three years they were in office being £234,000—almost doable. Of the moneys at credit of all the Government accounts at Wellington, the average daily balance was £378,573; the late Government's, £428,357; and of such moneys in excess of the limit 0f£400,000, and on which no interest was allowed by the Bank, the excess In the Government's ease was for 299 days, with a daily average of £51,363; in. the previous Government's it was for 60S days, with a daily average of £133,880— . more than two and a-haif times greater than the present Government in amount ani double the length of time. From. January to June, ISSS, the average dailybalance of the Government accounts, as. a whole, in Wellington and in London, was £618,000, while the daily average during the whole term of office of the late Government was £682,000. So that, as a matter of fact, the balances during the term of office of the present Government remaining unproductive were two and a-hali times less than similar balances retained by their predecessors. To show what reliance can be placed upon Mr Hutchison's figures, I find that in speaking of the above statement; he declares that there was excluded from, the compilation of the average daily balances in Wellington of the present Government the last day of the financial, year 1887-8, that is the 31st day of March, ISSS, the very day upon which the Bank made up its half-yearly balance. This, day, upon which there was a large balance at the Bank, and on which the £350,000 mentioned by Mr Hutchison was paid in from the Colonial Bank, was not excluded from the calculation. The 31st March, l£9o, wlien the balance was £427,720, was. excluded. Had this been included it would. only have raised the average balance for the whole term by£ss> vis.:—•

Total sum of the daily balance of the public account and other Government accounts at Wellington from Jth October, 1887, to 30th March, 1890 342^30.622 Balance on 31st March, 1890 427,720 A „ ' £342,658,342 Average daily balance (5X5 da ys I think it is hardly necessary to follow Mr Hutchison through his lengthy statement about deficiency bills, but to enable any of you unversed in the subject to follow this portion of the charge, which was fully answered in the House, I may state that deficiency bills are issued in aid of revenue, ana are given when there Iβ not

Controller will not issue a *<*wgg g . payment unless the money to JP,^? f *wJ! to issue deficiency bills for JgW 1 in October, 1837, to PV ln««f?* £ • England it shows that he didnottoow. I unmeaning of deficiency $£$ 1 really happened was that Sir J *°Sri had niade Arrangements for supolying the ' Treasury with the necessary cash, but 1 thiscould not be used as revenue.unlgj , made available by deficiency bills,*"* 1 £320.000 was by this means used in ■» 1 ofrevenue, *295,000 of which went to pay [ invest in' London, and Practically S amount was merely a two 9 *"^?*™ I funds, and the money received tofJJjJJ ? ficiencv biUs was not additionalborrowing. [ As» matter of fact, it appears that Uw , 3 present Government have not the | I Sank of New Zealand si;> unusual »»«»J 3 of public money. If they bad dpi* *o I there would have been some excuse, and it must have been in the interests of. the I colooy to do so, as the failure «.«"■ I Bank must have been a national eatofflgg | I That this is no Prejudiced view of the : s case is evinced by the .fact ""JgF: : Robert Stout spoketo a similareffiecc, at Invercareill I think, and aleo W a I Zealand Time*, under 5 datT22ad May, 1888. says in«««fw " the Bank of New Zealand-" I baye no ' Surest, direct or indirect, in j tution. Its members I believe, have , \ always been politically opposed to mc, and at the last election voted *»£«* *g I those who supported mc. But wbyehoi old • this colonial institution be criticised as « has been? It is, I believe, thoroughly I sound and strong. If J would pay this colony handsomely to I strengthen it, even if it had to f*je hajj • a million or more, but it is an Insttfutum of our own, and hence it must be a.boseo. I hope the colonists will set their faces against this abuse of New Zealand and its , inscitutions-our abuse that is to blame i for half our depression." J THE SKINFLINT REDUCTION. i By far the greater part of the session was i occupied by an attempt to reduce the estimates in the House. Before going ■ into this question it is only fair to state ' that the Government had reduced the ex- , penditure to an extent never contemplated • ' at the last election.- The Treasurer claimed j • to have reduced the public expenditure L for 18S8-9 as compared with 1886-7 by £298 000. This includes some items such as subsidies to local bodies which are noc really savings to the country, but have > been shifted from the Consolidated Fund] 1 to the local budies. But even allowing ] ' for all such doubtful items there must. ' have been ieductions to the extent ' of some £200,000, and I think the • Government deserve great credit for 1 their economical administration. But as : it was necessary that our expenditure • should be reduced to the narrowest limit ! I and several others asked the Govern- ; menttoreduce,theKstiraatesby£so,Doo,and after some negotiations they promised to do so. Notwithstanding this the Oppoaition determined to make the-reductions 1 in the House, and absolutely wasted a great pare of the session. The Estimates • wvre eventually reduced by . about - £46,000. In the course of the debate it > was clearly demonstrated that it is im- • possible for the House, the bulk of whose: 1 members have no knowledge of the departmental work, toe assist much in* ' definitely settling individual salaries. s As the result of some such attempt t we find that the salaries of some officers ' in active service were reduced to an - amount but little more than that which ' they are entitled to as retiring allowances. The result will probably be tuat they will retire upon their pensions, and their » places will have to be filled by other officials on full pay. This is clearly far from desirable. A notable instance of the - incompetence of the House to deal with the details of the Estimates came to light tin connection with the Audit Department. > The vote for this department was reduced ' by £945. The Controller and Auditor- . General, on. receipt of a request from'the ■ Colonial Secretary to draw up a scheme ■ for the sum of .£5265 allocated to his " department, declared hi£ utter inability to ' do so without the dismissal of three j or four clerks, and the discontinuance of a ■■ large part of the audit ot the public 1 moneys. In the course of a letter to the"; ' Hon. the Colonial Secretary upon the sub- ' ject he stated that the older clerks who ' had given the best part of their lives to the public service, and whose experience and knowledge of the laws they were assisting in administering rendered their services of special value, were nob receiv- ' ing any higher remuneration than they would be earning in any other business to " which they had devoted such long and faithful service. He also submitted figures, into the details of which I need hot go, showing that the Audit Department of New Zealand was carried on at a considerable less expense than the majority of the Australasian colonies, and secondly that it was a means of recovering considerable sums to the public chest, so that in some years the Audit Department had not* cose a farthing. When it is considered . that the vote for the Department was the subject of a long and acrimonious debate, a faint idea may be arrived at of how valuable time has been wasted. I have eta nearly every occasion on which I have, a fldressed you urged the necessity of some By stem, ot cloture being introduced. It seems monstrous that a small section of members should be allowed to monopolise a J&rjce proportion of. the. time of the* House and prevent useful legislation being gone- on with. (Hear, hear.) In dealing witli ithe subject of .. LANS UroiSIiATIOIT. I nrost jemind you.that when the amendment giving choice of tenure was carried in the House it was never for a moment contemplated that owners of 640 acres of first-class land or 2000 acres of second class . land, could purchase. any , Crown lands. It was found, however, that they were able to enter into competition with others. Judge Williams ruling that there was no first or second-class land before the Act of 1887. This is undoubtedly a serious flaw in the Act, and the Government in i the following session carried a clause amending this through the Lower House, bat ie was thrown out in the Upper House. When the BUI came down to us again the Government gave way. to save the • other clauses of their Bill. I opposed this, and was folly prepared to fight.this matter over aud carry out the original intention of the A«t. < ,In Canterbury, unfortunately,: 2 ; there was very little land left fit f or isettienjenfc. Very few at the lasfcelectioo appeared to realise this; in fact, only thos»9 ha.ving an intimate knowledge of locality thave any idea of how far back land purchases have been made. Iα North Canterbury the Midland Railway Company -have the control of the greater part of the Crown land, and I think it?will always be a slur on the Stout-Vogel administration, that Iα the original contract -with the: Midland Railway Company they did not put", in settlement iconditiona, so as to prevent the alienation to large landowners of any land suitable for settlement. . Nearly all the land that has been i &old has gone Into the hands of adjoining owners. In South Canterbury that Iα the neighborhood of Geraldine was probably the best, but it was by no means fit for small settlement. This has, on the whole, been fairly dealt with. Certain charges of damtnyiem in connection with the disposal of Canterbury land have been made, but I will deal with that subject later on. In she North Island settlement has gone on ac an enormous rate. The following statistics attached to the Financial Statement show that there has been a large increase in, agricultural holdings during the past three years:—ln 1887 there were '33,232 holding) of over an acre occupied and cultivated, and in 1890 there .were 38,173, showing an increase of nearly 1650 holdings settled yearly. There was evidently a large amount of Crown land dealt with, the greater part being for bona fide settlement, although no doubt a proportion of chat sold is not yet occupied. The return .of agricultural holdings this year shows an increase of 2430. The average, increase for the past ten years is 1260, and the largest increase for any year up, to. the present was in 1886, when it amounted to 1950. so that we have this year as increase- of 400 on any previous year. The urgent amendments we want In the existing land Lavra are— Tiret, stronger regulations pr§c£adin# persona at present owning 648 acres of first-class land (that is, land valued at £1 per acre, and which must not be confounded with what may be called , firstclass land in this district) or 2000 acres second-class land from takiug np Crown land at all. In the second place the Land Board should have the right to examine all applicants on oatli, so as to ascertain the bona fides of their application, and they steould'also. be empowered to allot the 'and applied for to the most suitable settler. Ajraln, the Board should have power ro refuse to grant transfers, even where the freehold has been obtained, for three or foar years after purchase from the Crown: - Wumer-1

has, been S*^ c «»arr©d where land fr^^trSSS^L 6l^** 6 f ""akbed with setitemeas!-2l u P0 n tile position of land I*** that bafVF** °L #° is n * ia & *be pa^aaneSbPS ,, *?? ,^ occucKos^^ « a *ald be held into the tbiok. if O SL.. Toese amendments; I eofflcient KS enfofoed, would be workable and e -. th .? P re »«nt Land Act nwtf&J- saifcab L e to our requireeaforchjg th^^S ,186 }™ ?° besicaUon in be instrucSS l^, and ««> Board should moatrufchii^i, 6o^l^ offenders efeoald DmpfrtV In H* 6 * *° amendment necessitate Hi mach biery that would enqoiry Board holaingan S ?tfJ* r th « re is t*« slightest evade the J^Jr^ myam OT attempt to ceedinKs tt£*\ A «. »° d ' lewd proSiaSdl Ti° utireference to the Sinister agoS^ai T s ere Beem «i pttle doubt that

that an enE2S? £ fch ?f, members, I asked hap* m£t q of^. houlcl »»:*«M* A» Permittee to fche w -I** *"«*ds Co«"- ---^ a ««ive enquiry olthe Minifi. i. reporc SwsiblJ I **** been printed*, which Ptocure all the evidence, and bdfi?o£? 8 J^ QentlT **** ia the session, report was presented to the if 'oUofioK is our reSS<rth^ Waßte Lande Committee SSndifrt** ** e »Mence adduced before So »&* the , dummylem enquiry AcS Aam Z U """tortytiJ that the Wl 1 »nemoer.of instances *v!ew% d made with Committed is of S£> £& lt w the dal / Of the Govern--3 •» «nfbrce the law, and •HEr2f£-n "£ 6 e ffendera gainst whom dew S %£& lle be Prosecuted, with the a ?t °P **> Uke practices ia ? do not know whit steps the £&kf?L??? fe mtend to take * Q the matter, ttZSfEO* a ¥ oas recommendation made tb?y are bound to try v tea. case.

SMALL SETTLEMENTS. Ky work on the Waste Lands Committee during the" past convinced mc of the necesslij of making some provision in certain-'nwCstfthe SSW f °^ h , oldi ?Kß of a sufficient area of good land for homes. Especially should settlement upon the land be encouraged ia places lise this, where there is a scarcity of work daring certain seasons of !& c J ea *' d wh,sro m °reovejr the land is likely to be legitimately cultivated by those who thoroughly understand it. To place a population upon the land wtt6 axe ipwrant of the common laws of agriculture is merely to court disaster. I n»a,y frankly state that my opinions upon this head have become considerably modified through che experience I have sained daring the past three years in ; tUis respect I trust that my work apon the Wfcate Lands Committee has not been ooprofitable. It muet be borue in mi nd that for purposes of such settlement no little money will be required, and, although I am strongly opposed to further twro.ving, I should be prepared toicouiuteqance it to a certain extent to give effect to ft scheme likely to give a fair trial of land settlement, say, in- Canterbury or Not th Otago. I may here state that, ox?ejt for such a purpose or for the owning of land by reading or for tl» purchase of native lands, I ,am utterly opposed to' further .borrowing. During the last three years the Severnmsnt have been tapering off the expenditure of loan money. I have systematically opposed the construction of new railways during the last three years, and l&m still of opinion that we should stop building fresh railways., I have on; previous occasions given account" of my opposition to the Otago Central and other tail ways, and am still: of opinion that we Skbuld borrow no more money at present for constructing public works.' Eventually it'will be necessary to go on wiih fee North Island Trunk line, but this should not be pushed on into the i Maori conn try until the land has been bought trim the Natives. Daring the last three years we have placed on revenue a great pare of tbe cost of erecting public .buijdinks, and must place on revenue a-good d&l oE expenditure previously pafcl for out ocloan moneys; but if we are to buy 'Niti-fe land in the North Island; or pdvate property in the South Island, some fficney will have to be lot the perposa. In connection with the question aflajid settlement I may mentioa that! fc|ve been accused of votlog against the interests of this district ia refusing to mc for a certain £10,000. £ do not think tiat this question has. been properly understood. This proposed vote of £10,000 was for the purchase of private property for resale by the Government;, and my pledges at last election were so explicit coon this subject that I .could not houor aely support suoha scheme, even at the risk of incurring the accusation that has been made. The proposed vote was, if I remember right, on the Supplementary Estimates, and only circulated a few hours before it came before; the House; and there was no scheme propounded by the Government. No -legislation was proposed, and it was practically too late ia the session to bring ia any ;• legislation. It has been stated tnatthe vote was lost bj my vote; so, out of curiosity,' I looked op Hansard, and saw that it was lost by two votes, and that many, extreme Radicals, mentioning Sir George Grey, either spoke or voted against it.. I may, moreover, point out that such a sam was totally inadequate *o serve any purpose of legitimate settlement, as it would of necessity have to be diyided among several districts. At last election,, and eVen two years ago, when some our financial institutions were in trouble, it woula have been very inadvisable to have held oat hopes of the Go vernmen t relieving them of their speculations. Many members believed when the vote was before: the House same such land was ready, to be offered to, the Government, I need, hardly say at a pi Ice far in excess of its value.. For this reason -alone it was perhaps as well that the financial atmosphere should, be cleared before any such purchase was made. Ib will be readily seen that the legislation on tills subject must be 9f the moat careful and delinite description. The utmost pabliciry must bs given to the proposed purchases, if any, by the Government, otherwise infinite jobbery may result. ; education/ rese&ves. ■ ; • : The manner ia which Education Be' serves have be en dealt with has, been the cause of aome little complaint, and? the matter was spoken of oa several occasions daring the last election. A section of the Education Reserves Leasing Bill of iast Session provides that before, releasing any farms the commissioners are to send,.full particulars to the Governor of their plana, i and if ie appears to him desirable lα. the interest of settlement he can direct fcbat Jhe farm be sub-divided into allotmenfcs of smaller area. This will enable the residents of any district to show cause for oab-divislon of any reserves ia thei? neighborhood, bat as they; are to be let by auction it may cause some injustice to Present tenants. It baa been the practice of the Commissioners of Education Reserves io the case of reserves let before to give renewals after fixing the rent. If \ they have to bid at auction, ; tbey will be ! rack rented for their own improvements. I think there should be some legislation by which they should be aiioftred compen* sation for value of the homestead at aqy rate. At present I am opposed to r FEDERATION with the Australian colonies, although ffltimately I hope we nflay-: be able to arrange a Customs tariff giving as freetrade ia natural products - between the several colonies. I certainly thought it tar duty to send delegates to the Con* ference held upon the subject after haying teto invited to do so. Wβ ahoald ataU hazards maintain friendly relations with onr Continental neighbors. , Iα many matters of legislation, especially with record to the interchange of stock, our connection is bound to be oi.au intimete character. Myviewson V v EDUCATIQS . are fairly weft-known to my constituents. I have systematically supported;the prasent education system and opposed the Government proposals of raising the school a-*. Mv views are anchanEjed, aad I recannot fall In with the wishes nfmv Roman Catholic friends by supportlne»«nte to their schools. The Private schools Bill received a great deal of sapthe last Parliament, but I am Evinced that if the present elections bounce in its favor it will entirely • a^roy. the present sysfeeoi, and ulti- | rfSi/ result in dosing all the smaller finery schools. The end will be a worse Ideation at a higher cost. At present ?hW large town schools cost less than than thrt capitation, and the balance goes to Jufrav the deficiency oa coantry schools. the West Christcharch. School, for Stance, with an of SntcDHdreo, only costing M, or iB 7s 8d per head, a eaviajr of 7s .to

spend oa country schools, while the_Porfe iCevy school, average attendance of IS, has a total annual expenditure £97, or £8 Is 8d per head. 16 seems quite clear to mc that it you have a lot of denominational schools in the towns drawing fall capitation the coaatry schools mast be gives ap. The education question is vitally Im- , portent to the = working men of tMa j colony, the wealthy will oe always able I to educate their children, and I must warn the working men that there are two (actions at present trying to rain the system, namely, those who want to top and tail, viz., raise the school age and reduce the standards, and Mr Ballance and others who are going for denomina* tionalism. I don't know which faction is the most dangerous, bnt I believe the educational system has never been in such danger as at present. A matter which came permanently before the House at the end of the session was THB STRIKE. Most people, I believe, now regret the* New Zealand was dragged into it. Unions are sUrna of the progress of the age, bat unless they are working with some broad fundamental principle, and to remedy some real grievance, they cannot enlist the sympathy ot the outside public, and unless the strikers have the sympathy of the public it is hardly possible for them to be successful. The London dockers had the sympathy of the public and they succeeded. I scarcely think ie necessary to go over the history of the strike in New Zealand, as the matter is familiar to you all. It appears to mc, however, that there mast be absolute freedom for any individual to work when and where he wishes to do so. A strike here whenever there may be some little derangement in Australia cannot but have a bad effect upon our colony. The effect of the present strifce cannot but be disastrous, not only is the direct loss to farmers through the closing of their general market, but through the disorganisation of trade generally, and consequent blow to our credit, it will certainly take the colony a long time to recover from the effects, as the public will be chary of investing their money in enterprises likely to be much affected by labor questions. It is a still greater pity that the strike occurred at a period when we were rapidly improving our position as a colony. Our financial position as a colony had greatly improved, and our credit was again established. Our exports in comparison with our imports have largely increased during the pass few years, as the following figures will clearly show:—From 1881 to 1888 there was no excess of exports over imports, but in 1887 they exceeded the imports by £600,654, in 183$ by £1,825,423, in 1889 by £3,042,168, and far the half-year ending Jane SOch, 1890, by £3,1010,030. Much has been said also about the decrease of our population b> emigration over immigration. I find, however, that for only one year, viz., 1888, has this been the case. In that year there was a decrease of 9175. Last year and in 1837 there was a small gain. Bub in 1883 the natural increase, by excess of births over deaths was 1394, so even in that year our population really increased by 4019, and I tiud that from the year 1885 to 1889 inclusive there was a total increase of population in this colony of 63,237. For my own part I have no doubt but that a fair settlement of one labor difficulty will be arrived at, and that, with economical administration, borrowing restricted to the narrowest limits, and lastly, but by far the most important, a judicious settlement of the people upon the land, the colony will make even greater progres than hitherto. conclusion. In conclusion I have to thank you most heartily for the patient hearing you have accorded mc. 1 have always been courteously received here, and X trust that the same good feeling will be displayed towards my opponent. QUESTIONS. In reply to questions Mr Rhodes sttfd that he was not prepared' to move Iα Che direction of Town and Road Board districts being placed on the same footing as electoral districts in regard to voting. The various Boards had to deal solely with the money received from the property in the districc, and it was only fair that the large property holders should have some extra say its the matter. He could bog say from memory what amount was paid under the property tax in respect of unimproved land held by companies. He would be happy to supply Mr Goodey with the returns upon the subject. For his own pare he was prepared to advocate any measures that woiild cause them to pay a fair share. As a matter of fact he believed that many properties were undervalued. This was partly on account of the valuators being underpaid. He thought that perhaps a better plan would be to appoint valuators trom men outside the district, and that all valuations should be made as early as possible, and that every publicity should be given to such valuations prior to the sitting of the Assessment Court. He had no opportunity, nor was there any necessity, to justify the Government in their appointment of Judge Edwards. As a matter of fact the question never went to the vote. He was of opinion, as he had stated on a previous occasion that the Government were wrong in making the appointment before the fiouso met. A position like that filled by Judge Edwards should, he cousiaered, be held by a Supreme Court Judge, and the Government should have the services of as good a man as possible. He certainly said that since the appointment had been made that hid salary should be appropriated to him. There was no doubt cbat such an appointment was necessary. It was, perhaps, not according to the general idea of constitutional law, but there was no doubt, however, that. It was a legal one. He was not aware that ie was legal tqjplump at elections of Town Boards. He did not believe in the system, and was opposed to it. He believed in the eight hours system, but did not see how it was to be brought into operation by the.Eight Hours BilL He would not debar a man from working more than eight hours if he liked. The Bill in its present form was-practically valueless. He voted for an alteration of the land laws before any of the Canterbury lands were dealt with. ;He had urged the Government to fight the matter out with the Upper douse, and he did not care' whether it was a case Mr Brydone or any* one else dummying. He had advocated a prosecution in any case. He would nos support the immediate stoppage of the sate of Crown lands and the cancella ion of existing provisions for conversion of perpetual lease holdings into freeholds. He was prepared to advocate a measure preventing the transfer of lands taken up for settlement purposes until some reasonable time had elapsed. He believed the reason why many people elected to take up land under the perpetual lease system was with the view of making it freehold at some time. He saw no reason why a man who was economical and saved his money should' not do so. He opposed the one man one vote measure, because he did not believe in it. As a matter of fact the Government had only borrowed one. million under a fresh loan and about £400,00) by debentures. The House practically came to the conclusion that fresh borrowing would have to be done. He did not vote on the question. He was certainly in favor or having the railways managed better, but considered that last year the Commissioners hardly had a fair trial. If the railways were to be run as a mere money-making machine, he should vote for "sacking" the Commissioners. He would not pledge himself to try and have them turned out of office. He would do hie best to have the railways managed in the interests of the farmers and the public. He wasjjerfeetly prepared to support the triennial Parliament system. He would not advocate an increased number of representatives in the House. Was not prepared to say that it. was against the interests of the people that a reduction in the number of representatives had been made. He did not agree with the premises of the question which assumed that the redaction of members to seventy left the representation of the country in the hands of the moneyed classes. In regard to the Conservatives in the Lower House refusing to inquire into the Ward-Hislop affair, he stated that when the question came before them a Committee of the -Upper House were really investigating the charges., He did not believe a Committee of the House was A proper tribunal to investigate such «&arges> , He had told the Government 4&s£ they could nob depend upon hfe vote if c direct charge was made. Mr EMop resigned, and his* constituency reelected „ him. With that the Cobservative? had nothing to do. Beplying to a- qaestion as to • • how -he intended men thrown out of employment through a combination of offices to live, in Tfeftr of the fact that we were already in a woaid-wide revelation because they were witheat means of support, he said that he should like to know special cases. Hβ could not compel employers not to " sack" men. If they were good mea fchey would probably get employment. Practically the Government of a country ear* feoand to support people nnable to exist ethervise. The State had practically the: cower to resume possession of freeholds under Mr Ballance'e Land Act, 1883. He was in favor of Government giving a fair .i trial to a limited resaroptioa oi private I

lands for settlement, trat there musfc be I the utmost poblicity, so that all traasae- j tioas might be fair and above board. Mβ had no objection to aapport a Tenants' j Biahta BUI so long as existing rights were conserved. He would not promise to introdueesoch a measure if returned, as the man with a private Bill which he had no prospect of carrying through, was an unmitigated nuisance. He would be willing to sound the House and see if there was a prospect of such a measure carried. Theoretically ha was In favor of pattloga special tax on absentee landlords. He would support any system that could be devised that could reach absentee landlords without injuring those capitalists whose money they desired to procure, but no workable scheme had ever been presented. He should have no objection, personally, to give a return of election expenses. He did not think such a return would be interesting reading, nor would it Dβ of much value, as if thereturn were to be made with the view of stopping corruption in all probability the amount would be "cooked." He would be prepared to advocate a measure compelling farmers or squatters to provide proper sleeping accommodation for their employees. He did not think, however, that the men would care to have beds and bed ling provided, They would probably prefer their own blankets. Since the Government were attending to che sanitary arrangements of factories, and so forth, he saw no reason why the accommodation and so forth should not be included. ■ i ■ . , ■. . Mr J. Talbot moved a vote ot thanks to Mr Rhodes for his address, and an expression 'of confidence In him as their representative. He had on a similar occasion recommended him for the suffrages of the electors, and he wan pleased that his recommendation had been endorsed. He had given a very lucid exposition of his views ou the several questions of the day, and he (Mr Talbot) thought tbat he had much Improved since he had been in training. He trusted the present contest would be conducted on straightforward principles, and that, whoever might be returned, ne ill-feeling would result.

Mr Guild seconded the motion. . The motion was then put and declared carried. * . . . Mr Rhodes moved a vote of thanks to the Chairman, and the meeting terminated.