CHRISTCHURCH ELECTION.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 9315, 16 January 1896, Page 5

CHRISTCHURCH ELECTION.

«v MR C. LEWIS AT THE THEATRE ROYAL.

Mr Chaa. Lewis, a candidate in connection with the Christchurch by election, addressed a meeting of the electors at the Theatre Royal last night. There was a large attendance, the theatre being tilled in every part. His Worship tho Alayor OP CiißisroutißCH presided, and, iv iutrodueing the candidate, remarked that Mr Lewis wished no one to be on the platfoim, as lw was desirous to meet the electors, favourable or unfavourable, face to face. (Applause. ) Mr Lewis, who was received with loud applause, said that in coming forward to address the electors ha it would be admitted that he did so at considerable disadvantage, because, in the first place, he was almost unaccustomed to public speaking, and on that poiut he churned their kindly indulgence. In the second place he was .speaking to an audience which had listened to tho speeches of the leading speakers in the past. In addressing the electors he wished them to notice what he said, not tliemauner in which he said it. Ho was not an ideal candidate, but camo as one of a party who supported a 3et ut principles which ho Hoped would command thir support. While anxious to sink the persoual element, ho thought it would be unfair to those who supported him if he allowed any misunderstanding or misappreheusion to go uncontradicted that might be prejudicial to his candidature. He woulu say that he had called tho electors together that they might both become hotter acquainted ; also that they uujjht see what he was, and especially what iie was not. (Loud applause and laughter). His critics had so far been very kind to him, and the only fault they found with him was that he was a farmer. Well, he was neither afraid nor ashamed to stand on a Christchurch platform aud admit that he waa a farmer (ioud applause), because he had yet to know that a farmer was not a welcome sialic, m our .streets, or thattho people regarded such an one as their natural enemy. If by that statement it was intended to convey that as far as the Christchurch electors were concerned he must be regarded as a farmer aud nothing but a farmer, then it was necessary in justice to the cause ho represented that be should place a little of his PERSONAL HISTORY before the meotiug. Ho was born in Christchurch, aud although the house in which he was born had gone the way of all early colonial houses, the laud on which ie stood was in his possession aud that of his children, aud to put it bluntly, its value was about double that of his farm. They would see then that he had much in commou with Christchurch, aud what affected Christchurch for good or evil must affect 1 him. When he was a youngw man the world was before him, and he had plenty to choose from, but he, always found .New Zealaud Buitod him. Then, after aeeiug the moat of Now Zealand he decided to nettle near Christchurch. Ho had been in the Ashburton, Timaru and other districts, and finally he settled at Halswell, where ho was auohored as much as any man could be an* chored who had a wife and seven ohildren. (Laughter and applause). Coming to the more important part of what he had to say, he would remind them that he had stated i hat he had appeared as a protest against the way in which the country had been governed. He was told a protest was always a sign of weakness. He did not look at the matter in that light, and if the gentleman who made it would repeat il outside after the meeting, he might be able to ahow him that protest was not always a sign of weakness, —(Laughter aud applause) —or that it always emanated from one devoid of hope. (Applause). He stood .before them as one who for the past five years had endeavoured to point out tho ill effects of the policy of the present Government. It would be unnecessary for him to reproduce his arguments and proofs that the predic tions had been realised. What was said was .that the ~ >„■; FOLIOS' OP THE GOVERNMENT s would have* a bad effect; it would- discourage capital, shackle enterprise, ourtail employment, and consequently lower wages and cause general stagnation. He was nob going to reproduce the arguments, those who took any interest in the question must be iv possession of them. Besides he had not time to go fully into them as the speech was merely introductory. Christchurch, as it were, was perhaps' more than any other constituency at the head of the kind of legislation to whioh he had referred, and he came forward as a candidate to ascertain whether itwas of the same opinion or whether it had changed its views. (Applause); 'The present Government came into power on a wave of feeling produced by currents which were deeply deplored, and which, lie "'believed, all were willing to forget. The Government found itself surrounded by gentlemen, some of whom bad been bora and reared in older countries, and had acquired their ideas from what they, had there learned or soen: aiid by others, whose political sustenance had been derived from the works of Henry George and the Fabian Essayß. The result of the introduction of their ideas was that their laws were antagonistic to capital and wages ; they interfered with capital and placed unnecessary restrictions on - the community, and .were not justified by the small amount of good which they did effect., At the, head of such community was to be found Mr Reeves, who was chosen as one of the representatives of Christchurch. The electors sent him to Wellington, and when he was before them as a candidate or a member they greeted him with gratifying marks of their approval and esteem.. They were consequently responsible for this kind of legislation, and, tor that reason he wished to find out if they were of the same opinion or had changed their mind. (Applause). If ow he was going to place before them shortly his views on the leading questions of the day. Itwas obviously impossible for him to do bo with any attention to detail, as they would occupy him for some hoars; they had already occupied the attention of the House for weeks. The first question on which he wished to say a few words waa. THB LICENSING QUESTION. * This was a matter he took first because it bad exoited a great deal of interest in Chriatchuroh. He was not prepared that the present election should resolve itself into a trial of strength between the extremists of either side. He was not a prohibitionist. lLoud applause.) This would doubtless elicit from some quarters that he was a brewers' hack. He did nob know so much about that. If anyone tried to use him as such they might find him an uncomfortable mount. In connection with prohibition he took this stand. He did not admit the right of a majority, either three fifths, four-fifths, or 99 per cent., to dictate to him how he should aob in a matter he considered for his good. (Applause.) What he meant was that he did not recognise the right of any majority to tell him that he should not drink one glass of beer; but he did recognise the right of the majority to say he should not drink fifty glasses or any smaller number that would constitute him a public nuisance. He would nob be in favour of any alteration in the present law as ie related to local option. The power now given to the people to regulate the number of houses was quite sufficient. Ho was in favour of allowing the bare majority if those who demanded it were satisfied with a bare majority of the electors on the roll. He was nob prepared to concede that a bare majority of those who voted should decide the question of license or no license. (Applause.) There was a distinction with a very considerable difference, because they would find that all the people on the roll did vote. (Laughter.) He would give them an illustration to show what he meant with regard to the right of majorities to role. He did not admit the right of the majority to tell him he should not marry, but he did recognise the right of the majority to spy he should not marry to excess. (Laughter and applause.) It was a little in advance of the times at present, bub perhaps during the coming century the majority might say that a man who has a hereditary disease should not marry and leave debilitated offspring. He was auxious that the licensing law as they now had it should be rigorously administered, and that when an offence was committed. the offender and the nun who incited him to break the law should be eqr.ally punished. (Applause). Should any legislation be in* , troduood into the Home . dealing with

drunkenness he would not approach the subject in any spirit of maudlin sentiment. There was one set of persons who treated a drunkard as a huge joke, and another who fell upon his neck aud shed tears. He considered a drunkard a nuisance to be suppressed. We took every precaution to protect ourselves from burglars, but we did not suffer from burglars as we did from druukards, and if a man broke into his bouse he did not shed tears over him because he could not restrain his taste for other people's things. Ho held that a man must restrain himself from over-indulgence in liquor, or we must know tho reason why. He would be t dd that he was tackling a man who had uo friends, and iv the present state of public feeling that man had no enemies. Ke thought that no public places with emolument should be given to men who had uo restraint over thenuelves. He knew the case of an Inspector in connection with the fanning community who waa such a slave to driuk that he was prohibited in every hotel iv the province. He did not vhink such a mau should have a place of emolument when so many honest, respectable men werein want of employment. EDUCATION. He was opposed to any change in the present system of education. (Applause.) But there" was, however, one small alteration he would liko to see introduced into the Act. There wa3 a clause in the Act which said that if auy owner or manager of a private school should apply to have his school inspected by a public inspector a Board may grant hw application. He thought the word " may " should be changed into "shall." (Hear, hear.) When applying for certain situations applicants had to produce a certificate that they have passed a certain standard — usually the sixth —aud children in private Schools were under the disadvantage that they could not produce such certificates. The Act appeared to be administered in different ways in different parts of the colony. In Southland and Westland the Boards of Education had given their inspectors power to inspect private schools, aud in Canterbury they had not done so of late. Some five ye*« 3 ago the Anglican schools at St. Albans and St. Michael's and the Catholic school at Lyttelton were examined by the Inspectors. Ho would go further than that—because it was a question that affected himself—and make this alteration, that any child which had been privately educated should be allowed an opportunity of obtaining a certificate by sitting for examination with the children in a public school. (Applause). He did not propose that the possession of such a certificate should establish any pecuniary claim, but he would bo willing to pay for the privilege. lApplause). THE LAND QUESTION. The next question he came to was that of land, which might be divided into three headings, land for settlement, compulsory resumption, and valuation or no valuation. He thought that more might have been done by the Government in the direction of purchasing small blocks of land in suitable districts for subdivision into lesser areas for close settlement. He had been told that such districts did not exist, hub he could drive one to half-a-dozen in the course of an afternoon. He need not go any further than his own door. The Government declined an offer of sixty acres of land in the Halswell district, the answer <?iven being that it was not suitable for sett* i«nt. If exception had been taken to the price he would have said nothing, bub when ib was said that the land was nob suitable he differed from the Government. It was some of the best land in the world. (Applause). Ib was sixty acres in extent, and would have cub up admirably into twelve or sixteen sections. The price was £40 per acre. He believed less would have been accepted. The Government made no demur on the score of price, and if they assumed that £40 were the figure, five acres of the land would be £200, and another £100 would fence, build a cottage, and go a good way towards providing stock. Ab 5 per cent, ib would be £15 per year, or 6s per week, and yet men in the disiricb wer6 now paying 5s per week for a house without any land. For another la per week they would get the five acres of land. (Applause.) When he told them that the land had been let in one block—to a man who usually did not give more for an article than it was worbh—ab 33s per acre, without any house, they would see that the land would have been cheap to a working man at 10s per acre. (Applause.) He had been speaking of blocks of five acres and he would say that If they were going to give a man land ab all, ib was not worth while giving him much less than that. An acre and a half or two acres was too much for a garden and too small for a farm. If a man had five acres ho could lay off an acre or so for a garden, and then have enough left for a cow and a pig or bwo. To pub a man on an acre and a half reminded bim of the gentleman who said of a goose that ib would be big enough for one but not big enough for two. (Applause). COMPULSORY TAKING OF LAND. ' In the mabber of the compulsory taking of land from owners, the principle underlying the law which was now in operation was of course a very old one. He himself, fifteen years ago, was deprived of some land, nob altogether acainst his will, bub compulsoriiy. He was given aboub £100 per acre, and he was sorry that ib did nob apply to the whole farm ab the same price. (Laughter). The principle was one to whioh no reasonable man cculd object, bub they should be careful they did not put ib into operation except as the very last resource, and he for one was sorry that it should have been pub into operation in respect of a Company, which was deprived of land ac a price of £10,000 loss than the owners considered its value. He might tell them that there were scores and hundreds of owners perfectly willing to sell their land a!) prices that would be mutually satisfactory, lb would be a mistake to put into operation with them this absolute clause, when ib was unnecessary. The people had to remember that in Loudon and older countries the Banks were simply bursting with money of owners seeking investment for it ; that they possessed sons and relations whom they were anxious to start in life in new countries ; aud that other countrios, as Canada, South America, and Australia, were competing with us for these men and their money. They must remember that we were considerably handicapped by our distance from the Old World and by the amount of ignorance which prevailed respecting us — •n ignorance he hoped our new AgentGeneral would be the means of dissipating. (Applause). They must also remember that we as a colony had recently acquired interest in a large amount of land through the Bank of New Zealand. This represented a large amount of land that must be sold and nob leased, and if the fact went forth that the Compulsory Act had taken land at £10,000 less than its value, the effect would be to more seriously handicap us in respect of the investment of the moneys to which he had referred. (Applause). REVALUATION. The next question to which he came was revaluation or not in connection with lands leased from the Crown. He was opposed to revaluation. He took it that we wanted to settle men on the land, and we must offer them every inducement to do so. He did not think revaluation was an inducement; it would havo no charm 3 for him. Take a place like Cheviot, and (consider the people who were now settled there. They had gone out and acted as pioneers, and had undergone considerable hardships iv the hope that tbe value of the land would increase. He took this position, that any increased value which attached to that land in the future belonged to the man from whose efforts the value of ! that land became increased. (Loud applause.) Of course they wero cold that this revaluation was introduced in order that tenants might have an opportunity of lowering their rents. But the idea" emanated from those who hated co thick that men made a proiit out of the laud. There wa3 one aspect which perhaps had not suggested I itself. It was this, that if the value of the land did fall so low that tenants could nob pay their rent, the Government would be unable to get it, and in any case they would have to reduce it. But if the value increased consequent upon the improvements and work ot the people who took it up, they were entitled to the increased value : it appeared to him that neither ho nor the Government had anything to do with that. We were told a lot about the rights of the State by those who considered the State and the people as one and the same. This was not the sort of doctrine he was prepared to endorse. When it came

to the question of money they would find that the people were the people and the State were the Government Buildings in Wellington. (Laughter and applause). As far as Canterbury was concerned, she had been a case in point. The people found the money, and after the Government got it the people here did not see much of it again. (Loud applause.) There was an instance ot this two years aco, when they might remember that Mr Ward collected the land tax in August instead of in December, as hitherto. A large sum ot money was taken from Canterbury. The men had made provision for their winter work, but the money they proposed to spend in that direction was called for by Mr Ward, and the work they proposed to do was left undone. If it wers true that the people were the State, then the said men would not be in a worse position. But they were considerably worse off, which proved the fallacy of the theory. It appeared also to him tnat the man living in Wellington was just as much an absentee fr<>m Cheviot or Pomohaka as the Irish landlord living in England. The state of things in Ireland was largely due to this absenteeism, and he hoped the same state of was not going to eventuate here. (Loud applause.) THE BANKING LEGISLATION. He supposed his address would not be considered 'complete if. in speaking to an audience on political matters, he did not mention the recent banking legislation, and when he thought over the sta',e of affairs as ab present existing he wondered whether half of it was true. The present Government had been complimented all round for the clever and sagacious manner iv which they grappled with the Bank of Now Zealand difficulty. When he saw what had been done in the first instance he was more surprised than ho could tell them, for there was one rule which applied whenever a man or a company got into difficulties, and that was that you could never get from a man or a company ab the outset a plain and straightforward explanation of the cause of tho difficulties. An instance occurred in which he was interested, whero the assets became much less than the original statemeut, aud the | liabilities increased proportionately. Wheu the Bauk of New Zealand came before the Government, it was said that £2,000,000 , would set it straight, and the Government I voted it without demur. But that £2,000,000 had not been enough. He could not understand why the Government should have so j hurriedly voted the guarautee. If the Government had not goue to their assist- ' anco the Bank must have gone down ; but it would have made no differeuce if the Bank had closed its doors for tweuty-four hours. Tho Governmeut could have met | the matter by taking the course of declaring the following day a Bank holiday. The ' Bank could then have closed its doors for twenty-four hours without any trouble arising, and the House and the country would have had twenty-four hours more to consider the position. To prevent auy run taking place on the Bank in any other part of the world, they might very well, seeing that it was a matter of such national importance, have closed the telegraph office, in so far as related to oversea cables. Well, at all events the Governmeut accepted the statemeut of the Bank, and the result we all knew. His impression was that the Government were foolish to accept that statement, without very considerable discount, and if they had taken a little more timo we might have been saved from a great deal of responsibility. (Applause.) The question of the Colonial Bank was one of a somewhat different character. They might remember that the Hon. Mr Ward passed through the House a measure called the Consols Bill. It was introduced for the purpose of encouraging thrift among the people. In his speech in reply on the Becond reading of the Bill, Mr Ward said it was very necessary that such a Bill should be passed to stop the stream of money going out of the colony. Those opposed to the Government hsfd made that statement so often that he was surprised at Mr Ward repeating it. The Bill passed the Lower House, and wheu it went to the Upper House it was opposed by several members who were Directors of the Colonial Bank. An adjournment took place, after which those members voted in favour of the Bill. Through that Bill the Colonial Bank received £150,000. The total amount invested was £153,025, of which £150,000 went to the Colonial Bank ; £8000 was invested by a public body, and the general public only invested to the extent of £25. The Bank of New Zealand shareholders had been obliged to pay heavy calls, and those of the Colonial Bank had not paid anything, .but the question of calls Was one he did nob propose to deal with. THE UNEMPLOYED. There was another question which excited a good deal of interest in New Zealand just now and had aroused much attention in Christchurch, and that was the unemployed. He referred nob only to those who were unemployed in the towns, bub to those who wero seeking work in the country. As to the way in which to deal with this matter he would give them a homely illustration. It was nob original, bub they might think ib was all the better on that account. Suppose a man had a sore on the back of hia hand, ib might be treated with liniment and oils, bathed with hot and cold water, aud poulticed and lanced. All those means would have bub a temporary effect. They might so far allay the pain that the man could get a night's sleep, but, as he said, they would only be temporary, because they did not strike at the root of the disease. Ib would show that the blood was out of order and not in a healthy condition. The only way to cure ib was to order him special diet, or give him tonics and medicine to cause his blood to circulate freely. The unemployed was a sore on the body politi3. There was something rotten in the state of Denmark, and the life-blood of the community did nob circulate properly. (Applause). All the measures of the Government had afforded only temporary relief. He might not be able to do much himself, bub the electors in the present election might do somebhing in that direction for the colony. (Applause.) He blamed the Government, directly and indirectly, for what he had been speaking of. There was a doctrine that the Government bad given their adherence to, and that was that it was the duty of the State to find work for every man. That was a doctrine he was prepared to endorse if they carried ib oub in private. He was not prepared to trumpet ib all over the world, because other countries which did not promote such a doctrine could scud their unemployed to New Zealand. The Government had eudoavoured to give effect to that doctrine in various ways. Foremost among the measures was the system of co-operative works. The Premier, very unwisely he thought, sent full information to Australia. Private members of the House went over there and told the men oub of work what a fine thing it was, and what a fine place New Zealand was for working men, as the Government supplied them with railway tickets, tents, tools, &o. The men out of work in Australia consequently flocked to New Zealand to the detriment of our own bona fide settlers. (Applause.) The system adopted in regard to cooperative works had only added to the trouble. He would be told that he was one of those who wanted to cut down wages. He asked them to go to Halswell aud they j would find that attempts had been made to i cub down wages ; there had been strikes on I other farms but none on his, and they would find that no one paid higher wages than he did. If they found anything to the contrary be would retire from the contest. (Loud applause.) He was not one of those who cut down wages or reduced men's earnings. "His doctrine was a selfish one, and ib was thi?. He wanted the people to have as much money in their pockets as possible, because the more money they had the more there would be tor him, the greater chance would he have of getting it. They would see that his utterances were not those of a man who wished to cut down wages. If tho Govern ment had money to spend it was its duty to do two things. In the interests of the ratepayers it must get as much as it could, and in the interests of the employed it must make that money go as far as it would. (Applause.) If lie had 24 j to pay wages with it would be better to give four men 6s per day than to give three men 8s per day, and let the one go away idle. The Government policy in connection with the co-operative works had been that some men had earned more than ordinary wages, and the result was that the taxpayers had not been getting as much out of the works ai they should and fewer men had been employed than should have been. The result of adopting

! the doctrine that the State must provide for all was to draw to our shores the poor and destitute and the lame ducks, and it made I it necessary for the Government to introduce the Undesirable Immigrants Bill, which was in the first placo directed against any man who had not £20 in his pockets. (Applause.) There were some questions on which he was iv accord with the Government, but generally, as they would have learned from his remarks, he was opposed to the Government. THE MINISTRY. It was somewhat singular that Mr Seddon was spoken of as a strong man and tho Ministry as a one man Ministry. If he had been asked what men had made the greatest mark in the political history of late, he would have said Mr Reeve 3 and Mr Ward. Sir Reeves, to whom he had already referred, had gone, and what sort of legislator would succeed him they did not know. So far as Mr Reeves' administration weat there was not much to complain about,; but he (the speaker) did not approve of his legislation. Mr Ward was the remaining gentleman to whom he took the most marked exception. The po icy of the present Ministry was known as the non-borrowing policy, and he could recall numerous instances when Ministers expressed themselves in that direction. If there was going to be any borrowiug, let it be done openly, for the worst thing that could be done wa3 to iadulge in sly borrowing ; it was just aboiiu a3 bid as sly driuking. (Applause). Such borrowiug was a conspicuous feature of Mr Ward's policy. He was not in accord with Mr Ward's action in seizing the Sinking Funds, and he differed from him in so pcrsiscently refusing to give information to the House oa the matter. He regretted that Mr Ward should have made two such totally divergent statements as he did on the Liud Tax in London and Wellington. When he collected it four mouths before the usual time he said it was necessary to meet our engagements. He said in London that be had securities amountiug to £3,000,000 on which he could raise any money he wanted. These two stories did not dovetail. He (Mr Lewis) was also not able to agree with Mr Ward on the matter of the Canadian and South Australian treaties. Both were largely to i he benefit of the other countries and not New Zealand. South Australia refused to accept the tariff, but he thought that was because it would be thought by the sister colonies to be ;in act of deflauce on the part of South Australia. He did not agree with Mr Ward's proposal that the amount of the laud tax should be fixed, and not subject to t'ae control of Parliament year by year. Speaking on a matter connected with finance, he said he did not approve of the action of Mr Seddon in refusing to allow tho House to consider the Public Works Statement before getting to the Estimates, aud it was to be regretted that the Estimates were forced through the House at the rate they were forced. This was an in which there was a tendency for breaking records. Mr Seddon was a man of great physical strength himself, and he seemed to forget that all his followers were not so gifted, and he kepo them discussing estimates until they were reduced to such a state or physical prostration that it was impossible for them to do anything like jascice to their duties. To conclude this part of the subject, he said that the manner in which the tariff wa3 or the tariffs wore introduced into the House aud passod through io suggested to him that the Ministers were blind to the responsibilities of their action, or they were unable to satisfactorily discharge them. (Applause.) CONCLUSION. He was not going to detain them at any great length, because his remarks that night were merely introduco.-y, and on future occasions it would be h;s privilege to address them. He had gM'ei them his opinions on some of the leadi< g questions of tho day, and any further information they would uo doubb proceed totxtrieo from him by way of questions. (Applause). Iv conclusion, he would say ; ha-< if he were returned he would havt; r o pledges to redeem, simply because he i a I made none. (Laughter). He did not come before them as a rising youne man who w is filled to the neck with schemes which wjuld have the claim of turning their sh.langa into halfcrowns or their chickens into turkeys. (Laughter.) In the present state of parties ho did not say that auy o ie man would have any appreciable cfiucc oa the politics of the country, but the effect which would be produced by his being returned would be an indirect one, and it mighs be just the same if he were to drop dead five minutes after the poll had beeu declare I. Ho did not stand as one who wished t > go to the House to gratify his personal ambition ; he was anxious that the seat should be contested, and. before becoming himself a candidate he had waited, aud many of his supporters had waited, oa several gentlemen better qualified than he was to become their representat've. (Applause). Among those waited upon he understood was his Worship the Mayor—(Applause)— but the Chairman felt he could not conscientiously discharge his duties as Mayor if he were away from Christchurch for four or five months in the year. He (the speaker) was nob standing to gratify his personal ambition. If they did him the honour to return him, his services would be available for the benefit of tho constituency or the colony. If they did not see their way to . elect him he would go down to his home comforted by the reflection that he had done his duty, and chat the electors had done what they couceived to be theirs. Whether, as regarded their own individual matters of duty—and he was now speaking to his supporters —he hoped that with regard to his opponents they would have nothing to reDroach themselves with and nothing to regret. During the contest he might not be able to give evidence of those qualifications whicn made a successful candidate, yet he hoped that his conduct would bear some resemblance to what was expected; from a man. When he heard his friends talking of votes of thanks and confidence he put his foot upon it. He said he was practically uuknown to them and came there fur the most part to introduce himseif, and as they did not know who the other candidates would be he did not wish them to stultify themselves by passing votes of confidence in him until they had heard what all the others had to say. (Loud and prolonged applause.) QUESTIONS. In answer to questions, Mr Lewis said that Mr Seddon was a gentleman for whom it was impossible to feel anything but admiration. His great weakness, however, appeared io be—(A Voice—" Whiskey." Loud laughter and applause)- no, not whiskey. His great weakness appeared to be that he must be Premier. There were indications, however, that Mr Seddon was not satisfied with his following, but there would have to be a more marked indication in that direction before he (the speaker) would follow the present Premier. (Applause.) Captain Russell was a gentleman whom he was most likely to follow at the present. (Applause.) To Sir Robert Stout he could not pledge himself. Some years ago he differed very much from Sir Robert; .now they seemed to be much more in accord, but with regard to twelve months hence he did not know what to ! say. During last session he would have followed Captain Russell, and if elected, and no great change took place, he would support Captain Russell next session. (Applause.) He would be glad to see anyone formulate a State old age pension scheme. (Applause.) It was a subject that the best minds of the world were engaged upon for some time past. The best scheme he bad seen so far was that of Canon Blackler, which the late Sir Harry Atkinson embodied in his compulsory insurance scheme. They wanted something, however, that came into operation at once. It was difficult to get yonug persons between the age of sixteen and twenty to make any preparation for old age, as they had a theory that they never would get old. If anyone brought forward an old age pension scheme he would do al! he could to render it perfect. (Applause.) He was in favour of Canterbury receiving a fair share of the grant in aid of prorpecting for gold. He was not prepared to support the repeal of the Acs which gave them a weekly half-holiday. (Applause). He digagreed with the manner in which the cooperative works had been carried out, but he was in favour of that system of employment. One of the means of getting rid of the unemployed difficulty was to give the people more confidence. He was not oppo?ed to free passes on the railways, and thongnc that with regard to volunteers, fire brigademen, &?., the Government had beeu too niggardly iv the past. (Applause). He

did nob know, however, what free passes to railway men had bo do with excursions. He was not prepared to withdraw all Government support from the Avon Ref ugo and similar institutions. Tho Bank of New Zealand was now an institution in which the colony had a great deal of interest, bub the moment a reasonable offer was received for the business and other propetties held by the Bank ib should be accepted. As a matter of theory he was in favour of the referendum, but as a matter of practice he was against it. There would be a difficulty in getting people to go to the poll, and the last licensing electiou was little better thau a farce for that reason. They must tell him iv what manner they wished the Midland Ra.lway completed before he would say whether ho would support its completion. The system of ballot lor selecting men by the Labour Bureau was the fairest one, and should be reinstated. He was not iv favour of the Bible being placed in the public schools. He saw no harm in giving Louis Chemis a new trial. If not guilty he should go free, and if guilty he should be hung. (Applause.) The evils of party Governuient had arisen more from its abuse rather than its use. Before they did away with party Government they should return to Parliament men who would see that Ministers did not abuse their power. (Applause.) He was in favour of the Hospital aud Charitable Aid Board members being elected directly by the ratepayers. He was opposed to a State Bank and to the abolition of the Legislative Council. (Applause.) Oa the matter of municipal fire insurance he would speak on a future occasiou. Public bodies to a certain extent, and within reasonable limits, should provide work for the relief of the unemployed. He was opposed to the amalgamation of boroughs without the consent of ratepayers. He approved of a prohibitive duty to protect New Zealand workers from the competition of prisonmade goods from Chiua. Japan, and Germany. He was nsked "if he would pledge himself to support absolutely the Eight Hours Bill," to which he would answer "No." (" Ohs !") Because such a Bill would not work. (" Ahs !") He had men now at his place who started work—(Voices — " At four or five o'clock, eh?")—yes, at four o'clock in the morning —(A Voice—" At 3s per day ?)—and they worked as long as they could see at a bob an hour. (Very loud applause.) Mr Lewis also answered a number of questions of iitble or no public interest. Mr G. T. Booth, who was received with loud applause, said they had listened to the address Mr Lewis had delivered with a great deal of interest, and he thought with a great deal of pleasure. He was not so foolish as to suppose that everyone present agreed with overything Mr Lewis had said or with all the opinious he might hold ; in fact he (Mr Booth) was sure they would have considerable difficulty in finding a candidate iv whom they would all agree. So far as ho (Mr Booth) was coucernea he did not care very much if the speaker's opinions did not all coincide with I his own, so long as he was a man he could i respect and in whose hands ho felt he could trust his interests as a member of the community. (Applause.) The impression Mr Lewis had made on them that night west to this extent; he had convinced them that he was a fearless and independent man who had arrived at his political opinions in a peculiarly independent fashion, and they had been further convinced that he was going bo maintain them in an effective manner. He supposed that Mr Lewis would be called a Conservative. Mr Lewis would no doubt nob objecb to that. He was nob of the old-fashioned sort, who stuck to a thing because it was old, and if they sent him to Parliament they would find in him a true Liberal, who would administer the affairs of the State not for any political party or social sect, but for the benefit of all. (Applause.) Remembering what Mr Lewis had said about votes of confidence, he would move "That this meeting cordially thanhs Mr Lewis for hi 3 address and foi- having offered his services to this constituency."

Mr Watters seconded the motion, which was carried with applause, one or two at the back of the theatre voting against it.

On the motion of the candidate, a vote of thanks was passed to the Chairman, and closed the meeting.