THE KAIAPOI SEAT.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 14194, 7 November 1911, Page 10

THE KAIAPOI SEAT.

MR R. MOORE AT KAIAPOI

Mr R. Moore, tho Opposition candidate for Kaiapoi, delivered his first address in tho Oddfellows' Hall, Kaiapoi, last night. Thero was a largo andienco, which crowded all the available accommodation. The Mayor (Mr R. Wylio), presided.

Tho chairman expressed pleasure at seeing so many present, which showed that the peoplo were taking a real interest in tliO oontest. Mr Mooro was well-known in tho district, and was highly esteemed. He was possessed of true British pluck for he had on more than one occasion contested tho scat unsuccessfully, and was once again a candidate.

Mr Moore, who was received with applause, 6aid that enco more it was tho right nnd duty of tho electors to elect the best man to represent them * in Farliamont. Except as a matter of etiquette, it was really unnecessary for the chairman to introduce him to a Kaiapoi audience. He had resided in the district almost all his life, and ho had been connected with every local institution in the town. Ho was mayor for four years, vras a member of tho Council, was for fifteon years chairman of tho School Committee, . and was also the representative of tho district on the Harbour Board, and had been chairman of tho Board. He also represented tho district on tho Hospital and Charitable Aid Board. Ho had also represented tho electorate for six years in tho House, and altogether he could fairly claim that no man in tho district had had such a varied experience of local and general political work aa he had. Tho old residents of tho town would know what ho hnd done as well as anybody. Ho was contesting tho scat on tho - present ooocaeion undor somewhat different conditions than had prevailed beforo. He had always mado it a rule novor to refer to his opponents, and ho had carefully kept from saying anything of a personal nature. Ho intended to do tho same during tho present contest. H 0 had nothing whatever to say against Sir Blackwell. who was a young man who had just entered tho political field. Mr Buddo, however, was now a member of tho Ministry. Tho other night he criticised tho work of tho Opposition, and had given the Government side of the question. Ho (the speaker) intended that night to give tbe electors tho Opposition sido of the picture, and in doing so ho would naturally havo to refer to Mr Buddo's colleagues, and to Mr Buddo also, but not to that gentleman personally in tho slightest degree. (Applause.) UNFAIR PLAY. Six years ago, when he decided to cr.ri!e«.t the seat, tho Government took a number of men from the district on to tho Northern railway works, and within a fortnight of tho day of election the foreman in charge of those men read out a departmental order that the men wero to get an extra Is a day for camping out. Within a week after the election, tho same foreman read out another departmental order that that payment was to be stopped. Some of*the men affected might be in the room that night; if so, he would ask thorn to state whrMier what ho had said was wrong. He had, howavcr. positive proof that what he had stated was true, and a number ot men who wero on tho works at tho time, wero influenced by the extra piiy. That was tho intention, of course, and as some of the men said to him afterwards. "wo got 7s or 8s for our votes, and after that wo might go to —." Was that giving a man British fair play? Three years ago again the boundaries of the electorate wero alt-red, and the Government cut off a largo portion of the country district where ho had beaten his opponent by a largo majority. He was then told that it was hopeless for him to win the seat with the altered boundaries, but his friends induced him to stand. The people at Papanui rallied round him and he beat the present Minister of Internal Affairs very badly there. Some montns ago again he was told there was no . chance of that district remaining in the electorate, and at a. social gathering at Papanui Mr Witty, a strong Government supporter, said that Papanui would now be in his electorate. That _N was done, and the new boundaries cut ■% out Papanui. W «,_ Ho Wol,l <i another instance. M A\hen the Harbour Bill was before the U Houso last year it was proposed to I make an alteration in tho constitution

of tho Lyttelton Harbour Board, of which he -was a member, in the direction of reducing the olected members by one and increasing the number of Government nominees by ono, the effect aiso being that Kaiapoi was to he cut out of the district altogether. If tliat had come about it would havo been impossible for him to havo been nominated for a seat on tho Harbour Board at all. However, the Chairman of the Lyttelton*' Harbour Board and himself had interviewed the Minister of Marine on tho matter, and the Minister promised that there would bo only one Government nominee and two elected men, also that Kaiapoi ■would not be disfranchised. That was dono, but the member for Kaiapoi, whoso district was being wore© served than any other portion of the district, sat there and never opened his mouth. No assistance in the matter was received from the member who should havo battled on behalf of his people. ELECTORAL MATTERS. ■ Thero would be in all probability a second ballot at Kaiapoi. He was always opposed to that system, for he thought it put tho country to unnecessary, expense, and it gave any Government with- an elastic conscience a splendid opportunity of manipulating tho district between the . first and second ballots. . If over ho had a chance he would do his utmost to ..ecuro tho abolition of the second ballot system. In countries I whero the system was adpoted it had I proved a failure, and there was no real son to suppose it would do any better in New Zealand. Ho also thought that the boundaries of electoral districts should not be altered, at any rato under ten or fifteen years. That would enable the peoplo to know where they were, and would prevent manipulation of thc districts. Furthermore, the date of the election should be fixed by Act of Parliament. What had happened in the past was that the date was altered, the consequence being that it was impossible to get through a district properly. TWO PICTURES.^ Referring to the policy of the present Government, Mr Mooro said that the policy, if tbore was one, was certainly no continuation of the policy of the late John Ballanoo. What would bo the opinion of John Baltaneo on the reckless financial policy of Lhe Government. The policy of John Ballanee, so far as the prcse-.it Ministry was concerned, was as dead as Julius Ca.sar. Prudence had been scattered to the four winds of Heaven. John Ballanoo had stated that he and his colleagues stood for non-borrowing on the English market; their borrowing on that market must cease; their debt was great, and the papulation to bear the burden was comparatively small, and the financial obligations of tho peoplo wore such as would mako sane men pause. Those were statements made by John Ballanee, in whoso footsteps the present Government professed to be following. The candidate then quoted statements by the Hon. J. A. Millar and tho Hon. T. Mackenzie antagonistic to borrowing. The Hon. Mr Buddo, sneaking iv that, hall recently, said tliat the burden of debt in New Zealand was less than in the Commonwealth. A minister oi the Crown should be careful in his statements, aud the fact was, that the Commonwealth debt per head was £3 7s 2d. or £1 4s 8d less than tho Now Zealand debt per head. During the two years Ballanee was in power tho gross increase of thc public dobt was £427,490; iv 19T-8 tho public debt was £66,4.53,897, aud in 1910, two years later, it stood at £74,590.445—a gross increase under Sir Joseph Ward of £8,236.568. or nearly twenty times as much for the samo period as under John Bn 11 a nee. And the present Government was following in Ballance's footsteps. (Laughter.) Under Ballanee the debt per head was £39 16s 7d, and last year it was £75 10s lOd — an increase of £16 per head._ The population had increased by 50 per cent., but the indebtedness by 100 per cent. Last year about six millions and a half was added to iho debt, or something over £6 per bead. (A Voice: "Givo us the wealth per head.") The wealth per head had increased simply by writing up values. A man with 100 acres" could write up its value every year, nd would soon <be a millionaire, but ho would only possess the same hundred acres. Sir Joseph Ward had expanded himself into a baronet, but ho had not increased the area of New Zealand. (Great applause.^ EXCESSIVE BORROWING. Sir Joseph Ward was a political financial juggler of tho first water. ("Boohing" and cries of "Yes, he is.") He thought that his (Sir Joseph Ward's) motto should be, "'Things will last my time." When Sir Joseph Ward's poluieal career was ended, and it would not be long beforo it did, it would fall to the lot of others to extricate New Zealand from tho financial chaos in which Sir Joseph Ward ■would leavo it. Ho combated Mr Buddo's statement that the £5,000,000 loan cost £3 lis Old and that the net > proceeds was £96 ls, and showed that after deducting the 1 per cent- given to the underwriters and other deductions made to induce investors to tako un the loan, the proceeds were only £94. The investing public had only taken up 7 per cent, of the total, and in addition on the day tho loan was issued 1

Now Zealand 3J per cents, had dropped 2 por cont. Yot Sir Joseph ». r ard said that the loan was a success. ilo contended that the statements mado by t-ho Opposition respecting the Dominion's finances wore not nearly so damaging as tho statements made by tho Prime Minister at Auckland somo time ago, when, referring to the £5,000,000 loan, ho said that if th> works undor < the loan -were not earned out, then within six months half tho business peoplo in Now Zealand would bo in tho bankruptcy court and two-thirds of tho workers would be out of work. In view of such .% statement did they wonder that capitalists only t_ok up 7 petcent, of the loan? j POLITICAL INFLUENCE. Mr Forbes, 31.P., had challenged opponents of the Government to mention cases of political influence. Ho (tho speaker) had alroady given a few instances which had occurred in the Kaiapoi electorate. Tlio Hon. T. Mac r kenzie, speaking in reference to tho Sydenham Post' Office, told the peoplo of Sydenham that they might have waited a good while for a post oflico and the reason why they did not havo to wait ton years like some districts that needed post offices more urgently, was due to tho efforts of Mr H. G. Ell and Mr T- H. Davey, members of Parliament to whom ho (Mr Mackenzie) said tho residents of the district should show the utmost gratitude. In effect, said the candidate, he told the people of Sydenham that they woo not to forget theso members at the polb. (Applause.) Tho speaker also referred to the Hon. IX. Mclvonzic's statement in Taranaki to tho effect that tho peoplo thero could not expect to get 'what they wanted unless they supported the Government; to the caso mentioned towards tho dose of the session, in "which a man | pot out of Lyttelton gaol before his time, and to the public works being car- i ried out in Sir Joseph Ward's district ■ to improve property. Regard- j ing the last-mentioned caso, he said j that, the Prime Minister and tho Hon. | 11. McKenzie were cute enough to tell : tho House that when they found out | that tiie money was being spent to im- j prove private property they had i stopped the works. Another instanco of political influence was the circular from tho Government asking local iTodies to forward particulars of works for which money was required, and in two caves he knew of local bodies : had applied for and got votes for_ works that they never expected to get. Never before in tho history of New Zealand had the Government at any time—not * oven before an election—pent out a circulnr hoping local bodies to ask for In the present instanco it • ■was done on the eve of an election,.! and dono with tho intention of bribing tho constituencies. (Applause). THE MOKAU CASE. Mr Buddo had said that tho charges against the Government in respect to j the Mokau land case had ended in smoke, or blown away in chaff. (Ij->ar. hear.) Ho heard his friend, Mr T. Parata, a member of tho House who had consistently backed up the natives, say "hear. _iear," but he wished to tell him that he was going to tell- tho ; honest truth. (Applause). Tfthoj chaff had blown away, a.s tho Minister j stated, somebody had got tho wheat. | Tho speaker then went into tho his- : tory of tho case, and stated that when ■ the Government had tho .opportunity of buying the laud they should havo purchased it- for closer settlement for the people of the Dominion. (Hear, ■ hear), and not allow a syndicate to . sten in in the manner it did. t He had been accused of not favour- ' ing land settlement, but if he had had any say in the matter, that block would have been one of the first taken; ; Tho fact was that lie had always been a very strong supporter of the policy of settling the lands of the country. (Applause.) FINANCIAL INFORMATION. Mr Mcoro also referred to the. reluct- ' a::- o of the Government to furnish pnr- ! tiei.lars of pnblic expenditure, and claimed that the peoplo were entitled to know how every penny was spent. THE JUDGES. Referring to the New Zealand judges, Mr Moore depreca : -d strongly the practice of loading Supreme Court judges with outside work. lie cited tho case of the Chief Justice, who, in addition to his official salary, received a large sum for his work on the Nativo Land Commission. He was not criticising cue , judges at all, but it was unfair and un- ! reasonable that tho judges should be ' placed on Commissions, and paid big sums. It -was an unfair position to placo the judges in, for it tended to , raise an impression that they wore i influenced by what they might* rectivo . from the Government, and that was not a proper state of affairs. LAND SETTLEMENT. Regarding Tand settlement, Mr Moore said the land policy of thc country should be one -which would enable tho peoplo to get on the land ■with the j greatest- ease, and on conditions best for themselves and the country. He believed that the leasehold system was a good ono to enable the pcnp"e to get on the land (applause), but a man should be given the option of mating the land his freehold -when ho was iv a position to do so. (Applause.) The granting of , , the freehold would bring out the best ' qualities in a man, and would incite j him to do his best for himself and his property. A bad example of the effects j , of tho leasehold system wa© to be seen j

in some of the native land near Kaiapoi, which was perhaps the best land iv the district and the dirtiest. He did not care what the tenure was as long as the land was worked to the best advantage, and there wag nothing like tho freehold to encourage a man to do his best. A man should also be allowed to invest his earnings in his holding. Furthermore, the granting of the trochoid would build up a fund for the purchase of other properties for settlement, and would in time rid the country from the grip of the foreign capitalist who lent the money required t-o buy tho estates now disposed of on the leasehold system. Whilo willing to grant the freehold, he would also restrict tho area which one man was entitled to hold. (Applause.) Ho wished to state that ho had never opposed the settlement of tho Cheviot estate; nil he had contended for was that some provision should be mado for tho paying off of the debentures issued to pay for tho property. Ho' had voted for the purchase of the estate, «nd in other ways had dono as much -as anybody to induco tho Government to acquire lands for closer settlement, THE LICENSING QUESTION. On the subject of the licensing question Mr Mooro said ho had hoped that some finality would have been reached ab the last conference, but it was not so. Tho pact entered into had been broken by tho prohibitionists, who wero now clamouring for tho bare majority. , His opinion was that tho margin should bo cut down to 55 per cent. That was ! part of the compact, and if he had the j opportunity ho Mould urgo and voto that that compact should bo carried out. When that was done, it was then a matter for the peoplo themselves to settle whether they would have licensed houses or not. MILITARY TRAINING. Referring to military training, Mr ! Mooro said he had previously been in i favour of the age limit being 19 years, ' but perhaps that was too low. He I would teach tho young men tl>_j.iso of the riflo and would train thorn up to .i certain ago and would then allow I them to drift into volunteer companies. j Tho volunteers in tho past had not j been properly encouraged. Every boy j in the Dominion should bo given sufficient training to enable them to help defend the country. LOCAL GOVERNMENT. Ho believed that the policy of the Government now was to centralise al! : power, and to decentralise expenditure. There should be a prooer systora of local government, whereby the local bodies would be able to carry out their • works without going cap in hand, t-o Mie Government for grants. A Lowil Government Hill was prepared at the • end of last session, but tho Prime Mm I ister refused to allow it to be eirculn--1 ted. Was that a proper position to tako up? Surely the local bodies should have been given an opportunity of considering the measure during the recess. Probably what tho Prime Minister feared was that tho Bill migjit excite hostilo comment aud so prejudice the elections. GOVERNMENT EXTRAVAGANCE. They had been told that there was nothing extravagant in the administra- ; tion of tho Government. In answer to : that he cited the case of tho duplication j of the Wellington-Hiitt lino and tho r erection of an expensive railway station ; at D'Miedin. The method under which ■ tho railways of tho Dominion wore constructed was wasteful; tho main trunk lines should be completed first and then the brandies should be mado as fo-klors. ! As another instance of Government exI fcravagance he quoted tho tenders ac- , eepted for stores, and stated that chains 'which cost £1 os at Addington, cost £1 los nt Hillside, and another article which cost £3 10s at Addington oost ; £5 10s at Hillside. AN IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. j The candidate referred to Si.r Joseph ! Ward's proposals for an Imperial Parliament of 300 members oi which six I should represent New Zealand, and said ', that as a New Zealander he objected to a proposal whereunder n Parliament in England could impose taxation on Sow Zealanders. Referring to the baronercy conferred on Sir Joseph Ward lie said ho believed that tho people of the l)o----minkm would lit.er know what it had cost them. CAPITAL LEAVING THE DOMINION. It had been stated that only one individual was .sending capital out of tho Dominion. Tho candidate said it was ; not a question of one individual but of ! hundreds of thousands of pounds being sent out of the Dominion during tho past few years- It did not matter much to the capitalist if In- invested his . money outside tho Dominion, kit it did | matter a groat deal to the peoplo of ; the Dominion that capital that- ought to be used in connection with the development of the Dominion's industrier was invested in other countries. As t<-; the claim that the Government ha.i reduced the mortgage tax as compared with what it was under the previous Government, lie said that thero was no : mortgage tax until tho present Government came into power. BURDENING THE POOR Tho Government at the present time wore charging excessive rates on small properties, and w.-ro penalising the frinall man. Mr Moore then quoted ! caws .riiero small properties had been i over valued for taxation purposes. In I other respects also tho "Poor Man's! .Government" imposed a heavy burden j of t-axation upon small estates, and cases had recently occurred where tho

taxation became positively oppressive. Tho people who wero posing as the champions of the poor men wero fixing the poor in a wav they had never been taxed beforo. The Government, in fact, were only too willing to help those who did not want it, and to oppress those who were' poor. Taxes were imposed which had never been imposed nefore, ami when reduced the Government took every credit for that reduction. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL REFORM. Ho believed that- the people should elect tho Legislative Council, the country to bo divided into large electorates, each to return its quota. At present the members were nominated practically by one man for seven years, and as tho end of their term), approached, thoy beoamo Quito sexvilo vi their support of the Government. They would not risk tho chance of not being re-appointed. WORKERS* DWELLINGS. Mr Mooro also spoke in favour of the adoption of a better svsteni relating to workers' dwellings. At present private building societies could offer better terms than the Government, but it should be tho other wav about. OLD AGE PENSION'S." Ho considered that- if a proper penpon ' scheme was to be adopted it .bould bo a universal system. At present a man who earned'a little or who had saved a little, was penalised. That was not right. A pensioner shov.ld still bo encouraged to be a producer. Even if tho universal scheme would cost more, the money would still remain in the country. From any point of view it would bo better to allow anybody who -nanted it to take the pension. At present many people who vr.ro just over tho margin were wor&e oil than thoso who received pensions. CONCLUSION. In conclusion Mr Moore said bo was quite opposed to the Ward Administration. There were no Tories or Conservatives in New Zealand, and he claimed to be as gcod a Liberal as any man in the country. (Applause). At present legislation was practically carried out by Order-in-Council. The representatives of the peoplo should havo greater power thau they Lad, and tho man at the head of tho Government should havo less. Tho Civil Servico should also be improved in the way of allowing equal opportunity to all, irrespective of political colour or influence. Ho believed tliat if his programme was carried out it would be found to be a generally Liberal one, and ono that would operate for tho good of tho country. (Loud applause). QUESTIONS. In reply to questions, Mr Moore said jhe preferred proportional renreseuta- | tion to the present second ballot system. He approved of the graduated ! land tax. He believed that some" alter- ' ation would have to bo made in the I Industrial Arbitration Act. Wihat was j wanted was less law and moro equity. j Friendly conferences between tho representatives of tho parties 6hould bo encouraged. Ho was strongly opposed ;to tho professional Labour agitator, | for it did not.suit that gentleman to j j have peace prevail between employer j and employee. Compulsory clauses ;iu th* Arbitration Act wero useless, for ■_a man could not be made to work if iho didn't want to. Ho was not in favour of the abolition of tbe totalisator. for it was a lesser evil than the bookmaker. Ho had always supported j a universal Saturday half-holiday. At the close of th© _mec'ting, Mr | Mooro was accorded a vote of thanks.