MR EDIE'S MEETINGS.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXIII, Issue 1164, 23 October 1896, Page 5

MR EDIE'S MEETINGS.

•'PuREKiRBKi.'-^Mr John Edie addressed the electors of this district last Thursday.evening in the sohoolhouse: There-was a good attendance and Mr OF. Cumine occupied the chair. Mr Edie said that he presented himself -for the suffrage^p.f^he.,..Clutha,constitueney with an honest desire to serve the people to the best of his 'ability'. '• [His ambition to enter the legislature of-.the .colony was an honourable one, and if returned would endeavour to so conduct himself there that when called upon to leave it/it 'would be with a reputation if not brilliant, at least honest.' He would ally himself with theparty.known: as the " Young New.,Zealanders.'\,. He believed, that,a certain number of members of Parliament should be young nien. so that.as the old passed away there woutyl always be' responsible men left to take their- places. His; motto would always be", measures not men" and he.would support any liberal measures',that were for the good of;New' Zealand, ho matter what party they were brought in by. He-had been^-a follower, of the present government, but not a blind one.. He, had seen their, faults and profited by them. With regard to the position of the colony it was said in certain' quarters that the country was going to ruin. Mr Edie did not believe that. He maintained that the colony was perfectly .solvent. . Its, assets amounted to. 200' millions and'while, the public debt was' 43 millions there was something very substantial'to show for it. It had been said {hat the Government went in on a "no borrowing" policy and that ,it had broken its pledge. Mr Edie maintained that their pledge was for Public Works and they certainly had not broken that. Coming to the question of the day—viz.j' the " Land Question," Mr Edie paid a high tribute io the doings of the Minister for Lands, the Hon. J. M'Kenzie. He (the speaker) was glad the day for accumulation of landed estates was gone. That change he maintained was mainly clue to the exertions of the present government. Pie considered it was on the proper track in its endeavours to recover the land for the purpose of closer settlement. The prosperity of the colony depended on closer settlement' and Mr Edie illustrated his point by quoting the great progress that had been made in our exports of wool and frozen meat. Speaking of the Advances to Settlers Act he considered it one of the best measures ever brought into. Parliament. It had regulated the rate of interest, resulting in a saving to the farmer ,to the extent of L300,000. He quoted figures also to show that it had beon a good thing for. the country and had resulted in a gain of LSOOO on the million and-a half loan. With regard to public works Mr Edie used a quantity of figures and a'budget of illustrative matter to prove that ths country is owing its prosperity to the money borrowed on Public Works. He showed that the interest on this borrowed money is not crushing .the country, for it was on account ,oi the loan that prosperity had come. He would support the completion of our railways to a paying point. Speaking on the education question Mr Edie considered that the money spent on this department was the best spent in the colony. He was: proud of the system though there was room for improvement iu certain points, he could not see hi-j way clear to grant aid to denominational schools. He was favourable to the Bible being read in sohools, and would also favour the granting of scholarships mainly for country schools. He would like to see the Education Board districts out up in such a way that there might be a chance of local men being put in. Coming to Party Government he could not see how good work could be done unless there were in the House men of every shade of opinion, but of course honest mon. He would support whatever party in Parliament he belonged to. but would be free though th& "heavens should fall." Regarding the Upper House he could not see that our Legislative Council could be done without. Speaking oh the question of prohition, Mr Edie said he had been a temperance reformer all his life. He does not believe in a bare majority. Unless there were a substantial erne, it wQuld _QrUy. be. a see-saw kind of business. Expediency demands that the majority should be substantial in which case there would be no fear of the result. He was against compensation which he considered unwarranted and selfish in the extreme. , He. contended that the Temperance party has had more concessions from this Government than from any previous one. Mr" Edie is opposed to taxation .and'would help on-the time when our food supplies would be free. He' thought that the change from the pro. party tax to that gn/land anc] income was a good one. He favoured 00-ope'rative works and maintained that, if 'fairly worked is a question that deserves the support of'every working man.—ln reply to questions at the close of his address, said he believed there' was a need for the Rabbit Department. There was also a n.ee.d tor th§ niillign Iqaq, thQUj^h he. thoiight*th§ natter should" have been left to the country to settle, He was* against a State.Bank, and considered"thrifts soon as the Bank of New Zealand oquld. do without Government help it should, be.'.ao.--corded its freedom. He, however, thought the Government was right in coming to its rescue.—Mi* Edie's address, which was a very spirited-: one, was listened to with great attention for one hour and twenty minutes;* It wrs moved,, fchn,t a. vote,of thanks to and. confidence in hinibe accorded. I'hjswas car.ried and a" vote'of'thanks to the chairman^closeel fihe meeting. , • ■ • ■:'■*]■"'•■ v''• ~ T^HATjKA.-riM.r MW$ Hieotiftgp heye was, wefl attended,, • the sjch^ql. befog"-&s:'tq tlie door. Mr Bradfield presided.. /-My- Edie' who was veiy heartily received,'spglie ati'length? on the public questions of the dayvhis address being similar to that delivered-irfbther; localities. He was listened to with the deepest interest and at the close a number of questions were asked by the chairman, Mr Blac^.ancV otheiis, Mu:Edie uep.ly.ing }n a straightforward manner. On the motion of Mr J. B. Greon, a motion of thanks and; confidence ,was: jmsse-cl. ..... •....-. Batanui.—The evening of Mr EchVs. meet* ing wo,s bga.utifu.lly; flne ai\cVih§ "aufl.ienee""w-as the. largest ever krjqwn hero, My Carbon/qo^ oupied. the chair. The> ;oandidate was vo>ceived with app^nse and spoke for an hour jand a half. He declared himself a supporter. ,of the present Government .and would vote in support of his own party cve)i <igairisi *hkoivn icowietion'g. ,He did not think an ■ Elective. ■ ■E»eput|ys,wpuifl be an advantage, but .would ibeHn favqur 'ot giving it a trial.^The candidate" replied to ft number of 'questions', rtfter jwhioh'Mr D. Mtoir moved a Vpte'of thanks' to' fM/Edie and.4b.e phatfnian, This dual motion i

was ; rejected. ■» A motion- 'of: thanks to the candidate was then moved when Mr Stenning.(one:of.M:r Edie's late employees) moved as an. amendment, a vote 01 thanks and confidence. . .The. amendment was-, carried unanimously. . . ,