THE ELECTIONS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 335, 23 October 1908, Page 9

THE ELECTIONS.

NEWS AND NOTES. CANDIDATES AND THEIR SPEECHES. The member for • Ellesmero (Mr. 11. H. Rhodes) does not see why tlie Government should not acquire properties in settled areas and,cut them up into small areas of from ten'iti twenty acres, small settlors being permitted to supplement their'income by other work. The land should then be cut up into bigger blocks of from 100 to 150 acres, and the'small sottlers should bo allowed to ballot for.it, relinquishing their small holdings if successful? Then the Government' could go a 'step further and cut up land into blocks of'from 250 to 800 acres, the same process beinq repeated. These sections must be leasehold, but in the end the settler should be "allowed to~tako up tho larger areas with a "provision against aggregation, and have an optional tenure. There should be an endeavour to help tho man with the stroll" arm and put' him on the land. They would thereby have the leasehold and the freehold existing side by side, a state of affairs that tho Opposition had always advocated. Tho Gerakline Contest. Mri'W. H. Williams, Liberal candidate for the.Geraldine seat, stated in a speech at Winchester that' Mr.. J. M. Twomey had definitely withdrawn from tho Geraldinc contest. It was probable.that.thero would be only three candidates, Messrs. T. Buxton (Liberal), W. Jeffries (Opposition) and himself. This statement ignores Mr. V. Guthrie, who was formerly' announced as another Liberal candidate, ; Absent Voters' Permits. As tho general election .has been fixed for;;, November 17, and the Presbyterian General Assembly meets in Dunedin- on Tuesday, November 10, delegates to the Assembly will loso their vote unless they obtain absent, voters' permits. Section 125 of.Tlie Electoral Act, 1905, provides that an elector, of any district may, at any time up to and including tho issue of the writ, apply in ; writing to the registrar of the district for/a Toting permit authorising him to record his vote outside the district, at any polling .plaoo appointed under the Act, and such - application shall be witnessed by a justice, postmaster, or other Government officer. Tho registrar, on being satisfied of tho bona fides of tho applicant, and that the .applicant's name .is on the roll'of tho district, shall issue to liim-a voting permit. "Made In Germany Kind of Tilings." "All the Government candidates are dealing':out set speeches to the electors, sort of made in Germany kind of things. They are not fallowed to havo any individuality, no original thoughts, but must have their manhood stultified, not only in tho House, but on?the platform before the electors. Why don't you vote for a man. who can think his own'thoughts, and speak them?"— Mr. Byron Brown, at Moutoa. •

Time to Apply the Brake.' The Christchurch "Press," referring to the remarks of Mr. ,G. Sheat, the Opposition candidate' for Riccarton, on Government finance, says:—"The country at present is in ; the'position of a coach the horses of ;which are bolting down hill. The Government declare ,-that. in order to stop it the Opposition would run the coach into the bank and upset it, but all that the Opposition would really do, all that would be necessary, would be •to apply the brake and put. a > more careful driver in charge of the teajn. The coach would continue on its way,, but safely, instead of recklessly. Mr. Sheat is ono of those who would put on the brake' instead of whipping up the horses, and that fact, among many others, should rin'him th'o' support of the Riccarton electors." Vigorous Criticism. The Opposition candidate for Geraldine (Mr.'-W. •' 'Jeffries) opened his campaign. on Wednesday night at Temuka with\ one Uf the most vigorous denunciations of the Government's policy that lias yet ; been : uttered. The speech left the audience quite satisfied as to which side' of, the House. Mr. Jeffries will be found on if he;, is elected. He was particularly outspoken- on the question of financo, and referring to the extravagant borrowing that is the,chief fe'aturo of the.Government's policy, ho:pointed out to the farmers that if a crisis came, they would suffer', as the money must come ,out of the land. v The country could not. go on continually borrowing. The appalling amount of our public debt and the way it was being continually piled up should bo sufficient to.make us pause. In proportion to population, Ken - , Zealand was more'heavily indebted than any other country in the. world. While,, it was true,' as the Prime. Minister pointed out, there had been remissions of taxation on certain things, it was certain that .with an increasing debt they must have increasing interest, and this interest had to come-'put of the pockets of the people. The Government's alarming and; chaotic financial position had caused unrest among mercantile and .other "people, while the reckless and wholesale expenditure of public money for the, purpose'of retaining an unflinching patronage was. unequalled in any other British colony. The self-reliant, non-borrowing policy of the John Ballance Government had long since faded into oblivion. Our very existence now. depended on the London money-lender.

That. Blessed Word "Leasehold." It : suits Mr. Buxton, a Government candidaio,- for Geraldine, to think that there ■is a great deal * of - sentiment. as to the. moaning of freehold or, leasehold. Ho asked his hearers if they believed that,, the freeholder' produced one bushel of grain more- per acre, or fed one hoof of stock more per acre, or was one jot - better off because lie was the supposed holder of the deeds? If he himself wanted to . make money he would take the leaseholder's chance for preference. Mr. Buxton is .evidently one oi those inch who can hypnotise themselves, by repeating that blessed word "leasehold," into a belief that it ~is the me and only form of land tenure that people want, ''lhey arc doomed to a rude .awakening. Defense Matters. Mr.' Heaton Rhodes's views on defence, as those of a man who has for many years taken a 'prominent part in volunteering in Canterbury,- tire woith mbro consideration than those of many candidates whoso interest in tho'future of tho volunteers lasts just as long as the election campaign, and dies on polling day. Mr. Rhodes, speaking at Leeston on Tuesday, admitted that, the volunteer force was falling away in numbers. Members in the'Houso talked a great deal about encouraging volunteering, and uttered the same old platitudes, but there was no practical proposal, made. The Government was not. getting its full value for tho money spent on ; defence. He was convinced that they wore;coming to tho time when they must institute some system of universal training. This did not moan conscription; but they would have to adopt some system for training' the young men in tl)3 defence of their country. Education was compulsory, and there . was no reason why there should not be compulsory universal training as well, though there would have to be many exemptions: WeiHngtan Suburbs. At; a meeting-of the Northland electors held on Wednesday night, it was decided to nominate Mr. Fitzgerald as their representative for Parliament. The meeting pledged itself to that effect and to forward his candidature. Mr. Fitzgerald said he greatly appreciated the kind efforts made oil his behalf; and felt that so far as Northland tras concerned his election was assured. He also paid a tribute to his opponents, it being:;! pleasure to oppose gentlemen of such stoning character and courtesy; but, recognising the great honour to bo attained by the selection of electors, his campaign was going to be fought with that determination, vigour, and candour which characterises all Bell-made men, and,he hoped to win the confidence and esteem of those who determine the issun

Railway Administration. On tho question of railway administration, Mr. It. 11. Rhodes, the member for Eilesmore, speaking on Wednesday evening,, said that Mr. Massey had been credited with advocatiug • that the railways should be handed over to commissioners. What Mr. Massey had suggested was that a commission of enquiry should be sot up to enquire into tN working of tho railways, to seo whether they were being managed to tho best advantage for the people of tho country. lie believed that with proper management there •would be room for more concessions to farmers and otliors. / The Vacancy in the Cabinet. The vacancy in tho Cabinet, occasioned by tho appointment of tho Hon. W. Half-Jones to tho High Commissionership, is.causing a lot of speculation throughout New Zealand, but so tar it lias not excited much interest' in Auckland (says tho "Herald"), the general opinion being that-' a Southern member will bo elevated to Cabinet, rank. Still thero are many who freely mention Mr. Alfred K.idd and Mr. V. E. Baume, K.C., as amongst the "probables." Supporters of tho idea that a Northern Minister should bo appointed point out that thero would be nothing out of tho way in a Northern selection, because, for very many years, during Mr. Seddon's regime, tho Ministry was almost entirely composed of Southern' members. An Auckland country member states that the North, indeed, has prior claim, because the balance of political power lies in the North, and Auckland has a quarter of tho total representation of tho lieminion. Moreover, the Minister for Native Affairs is "charged" to Auckland, whereas he cannot ba held to represent Auckland, or, for tho matter of that, the North Island, in Parliament at all. This loft the Hon. James M'Gowan and tho Hon. G. Fowlds in the popular Chamber- to represent the North island, while the South Island has four Ministers, and tlieso four hold the most important' portfolios. Lost liis Notes. Mr. G. Winder was rather severely handicapped last night in his elforts to persuade those electors of Wellington East who assembled at the Victoria Hall that ho was the right mail in the right place. His notes had been mislaid, he explained. The result was a somewhat rambling eulogy of the Government policy. At one stage of his address he was understood to say that the idea of locating tho Governor's residence in Newtown was an excellent one, to which ho would giyo his support, Said a member of tho proletariat from the back of tho hall: "We don't want 'im 'ere." Advances to Settlers. in a speech at .Waitahuna, Mr. James Alien.dealt with 'the administration of the Advances to Settlers oiuee, pointing out that tho huge sum of £I,OUO,uOU had been borrowed and lent out in the first six months of tlie year. He was not cavilling at that, but lie objected altogether to tno Department making promises to give loans and not being able to fuhil them. . Yory many settlers had received such promises, and when tliey expected the loans tno money was not forthcoming, and arrangements -made' with bankers and others to pay off mortgages 'could not be carried out. He knew of instance that \ came before a prominent member of the (Jpposition party. A man was promised a loan at a certain date; fie intended to meet his engagements, but the loan was not forthcoming, and he could not meet' tliem. The head oi tho Department was interviewed, and admitted Mat he had no money, though he might have some in a ,few months. This member of the Opposition then said, "Can you give me some statement that tliis will be so?" and he got from tho head of tho Department a note saying that the money would be- available at a certain date. The object of getting this noto was to take it as a temporary security to those to- whom the . man was under an'obligation, to get them

to leave the matter over as far as they were concerned until the money from tho Advances to Settlers office:■was' .available.. .

A Youthful Electorate, . There will be a large "young" vote in this electorate, says the Eltham "Argus," large numbers who have reached their majority since last election having gone on tho roll. Of the 2000 odd persons whose names trill figure on tho supplementary roll, probably two-thirds will rote for the first time. Parnoll. In response to the desire of a deputation which urged that there should be no splitting of votes on tho Government side in Parnell, Mr. Dickson has definitely. decided to retire from the contest. His retirement will leave a pretty straight issue between Mr. Frank Lawry and Mr. E. G. li. Moss, and the contest is expected to be a close one. Mr. Hogg's Speech. There does not seem to bo a great deal of public interest over the Masterton election (writes our AVairarapa correspondent). It is overshadowed by tho important issues of the local , option poll, on which, the fight gets keener and keener. It was thought that Mr. Hogg would have instilled soma life into the business with his first sjjeech on Wednesday night, but the reverse was tho case. Except on one or two occasions,' Mastercon's repre-sentative-was as mild as if ho wore addressing a Sunday school gathering. His speech was largely composed of figures, which are not viewed with much favour by election audiences, and things were very tame indeed.

Mr. Herries at To Aroha. • Mr. W. H. Herries, tho Opposition candidate for the Tauranga electorate, addressed a crowded audience in tho To Aroha Public Hall on Saturday evening. Mr. Herries's main points wore as follow: —(1) That the present Opposition is a thoroughly Liberal party; (2) tho present Government is vastly inferior in personnel to the original Cabinet of thej'late Mr. Seddon; (3) it is inimical to tho farming industry, to tho mining industry, and to the Noi;th Island; and (4) it has failed to deal satisfactorily with the Native land question. The Opposition had, he said, a definite land policy. It recognised the value of the leasehold to a man of small means taking up land, lie could use his capital in procuring stock and implements. But when that man had overcome his initial difficulties, ho should have tho.option of acquiring the freehold at the original valuation. Every man prepared to acquire the freehold, should be permitted to do so. The ideal was tho greatest possible number of comparatively small freeholds. . The Covemment and the Farmer. In the course of a speech at Te Aroha, Mr. Herries, in illustration of his contention that the Government was inimical to the farming industry, quoted at length from tiie dairy regulations proposed by the Department of Agriculture. These would, ho said, have terribly harassed the only industry which was still showing no sign of depression, and were plainly the _'work of people out of sympathy with, or ignorant of, tho conditions under which the country settler worked. Tho Stock Committeo had cut them down by liaif. Mr. Herries dealt at some length with the Government,'s shortcomings in respect to developing the mining industry, and compared tho Customs tariff now in force with the old one, to show how, in respect to mining and agricultural ljiacliinery, tho Government had penalised the miner and tho farmer. Ho thought that there had been a lack of foresight in tho matter of finance. Serious loss and inconvenience had been infiictcd on many settlers, who, relying upon obtaining advances in tho usual course, had entered upon obligations in respect to implements, stock, and improvements, only to find that tho Government had no money available. Tho sccond ballot, and especially tho " gag" clause, was severely criticised. A voto of thanks and conlidcnce was carried unanimously. Another Possible Minister! Other candidates besides Mr. Major aro hinting at tho possibility of their being appointed to fill the vacancy in the Ministry. 'Wednesday's "Otaki Mail" reports Mr. Field as having stated that "he was not seeking re-election to Parliament for any profit he might make out of it, but for the honour of representing Iheni." "If a portfolio were offered him," be added, "he would accept it because ho would deem it his duty to his con-

stituents. He did not pose as an orator, a statesman, or a reformer, but would serve . them faithfully and well to tho best of his [ ability." A Candid Candidate. Iu regard to his critic's statement that l only ono estate had been cut up in the Masi terton electorate as against eight in Waira- ■ rapa, because "the Government considered • tho Masterton seat safe," the speaker thought tho electors of Masterton wero to be i congratulated, as it implied that the Gov- • ornment considered tho people of the electorate above being bribed by Government expenditures.—Mr. Hogg, at' Masterton. , Maori Landlords. i "Do you want to seo a raco of Maori land- . lords? ,Po you want to see your ehalrcn bowing tho kneo to a Maori aristocracy? You might, although I liopo not. At one i time I thought the Maori tho worst landlord, ■ but alter seeing the way the Government has treated its Paeroa tenants, I think the Government runs tho Maori pretty close, where the tenant refuses to bow tho knee. Tho Government has now put off the auction till December 3, and in tho meantime it will see if tho tenants bow tho kneo enough."— Mr, Moss, a candidate for Parnell. Tho Difference. There was an impression abroad that the Opposition wanted to stop the progress of the Dominion. It was contrary to fact that tho Opposition < wanted to stop borrowing; it wanted to keep borrowing within tho realm of sound business finance; it did not want-to stop the settlement of the people on the land. . So long as the money was spent on reproductive works, and so long as it produced tho interest payable to the lenders, tho Opposition did not opposo borrowing. , It wanted, to step tho present indiscriminate borrowing that was utilised to keep tho seats of those who represented the Government.—Mr. G. Shcat, at Riccarton. Sir J. Ward and the Hon. C. Fowlds. Just before leaving for the south last evening, Sir Joseph Ward sent the following telegram to the Hon. G. Fowlds, apropos of the lattor's election campaign at Grey Lynn, Auckland:— "Exceedingly glad to hear of your splendid meeting last night. Very good reports appeared in papers hero. Needless to say, 1 am fully in accord with your views regarding the rumour that.it would be agreeable to me if you wero not returned. It is ono of those statements that scarcely call for denial, but as it iias been made, it is as well that I should repudiate it. I do not think our friends would entertain such an idea for a moment. Kind regards. Just off to tho south.—J. G. Ward." The Robbing of Canterbury. Tho Government was an opportunist one, as was. shown by its reduction of the rates on tho Christchurch-Lyttelton line as soon as the people of Christchurch showed that they wero in dead earnest in the matter of constructing (Hear, hear.) If it was a Liberal Government, it ought to pay back, to tho taxpayers of Canterbury the hundreds of thousands of pounds that it had taken illegitimately as tho result of the tariff charged oil tho lino for so many years.—Mr. G. Slieat, at Riccarton. Leasehold w. Freehold. / "It. costs mora money to build upon a leasehold than upon a freehold," said Mr. Moss, at Remucra, Auckland, on Tuesday night. "Which of tho Cabinet Ministers holds a leasehold ? None. Which one doesn't own freehold?-'" None. Why, even' tho Minister for Education, the great'singletax advocate, owns freehold." •Jot tings. It is estimated ihat the complete roll for Auckland Central will contain about 2000 names moro than at last election, and will comprise fully 9000 voters. Approximately 1000 names have been struck off tho main roll, and it is expected that this number will be increased to 1200 or 1300. The Hon. T. W. Hislop explains' that, though he has taken the Town Hall and the Concert Chamber for the evening preceding the election, lie has not taken them both for 1 himself. . One hall will bo used .by another candidate. . - "Are you in favour of letting Lionel Terry out. of gaol?"-asked an interjector at Mr. Poole's meeting at l'onsonby on Tuesday. "Well, for your sake, 1 would not," was the candidate's reply, s amidst laughter. Tho Hon. T. W. Hislop (Central) commences his campaign on Monday evening next by addressing the electors at Aro Street. Mr..Hislop will conduct another meeting in the Hall on the following night, Tuesday. Mr. Field (Otaki) announces a meeting in the Porirua Hall on Monday next. Mr. John P. Luke, Liberal candidate for the Wellington Suburbs, intimates that he will conduct public meetings at the Hall, Ngahauranga, Tuesday, October 27; and oil the following evening at tho Ohariu Hall. Mr. David M'Laren, Labour candidate, contesting the Wellington East seat, will speak to tho electors "at the Bothel, Tory Street, on Monday. Mr. M'Laren invites all - active supporters to meet this evening in his committee room, Cambridge Terrace.