THE RANGITIKEI SEAT.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 595, 25 August 1909, Page 6

THE RANGITIKEI SEAT.

The . cqntes.t, f pr the Kangitjkei seat was formally opened in Hunterville last night, • whpn Me, Hoc|kley, who' i? stand: ing in the interests pf the Oppositiqn, delivered ap address- that evidently pleased his audiencp very much. Mb. Hockley is of course.', a supporter,of the freehold, and, for the matter of that, most of his opponents. are the same. It is satisfactory to know that whatever happens the electorate is practically certain knbe represented by an opponent of the Government's theory of land tenure. But we need not discuss the land question just now, especially as. there a,rc Bigns'. that tho Government is prepared to abandon its misguided affeption for the . inconvertible leasehold- Tho main planka of Mr. Hockley's platform, ;it will be seen, embrace some of the principles for which The Dominion has bean steadily contending. Just as Mb. MiLr L.\n's admission that the railways must pay, and the Government's adoption pf a scheme of retrenchment, have, shown that sound principles cap be made t° succeed even against prejudice and strategy, so tho appearance of. a candidate wjio makes Civil. Service rojoro one

of tho loading articles of hi? political creed must bo regarded as evidonco that tho last two years havo heen effectively educative years.

Wo aro very glad indeed to bco a Parliamentary cantlidato treating as a necessity of tho first importance tho removal of tho Civil Service from political control. Mn. Hooklky may with advantage lay no loss stress upon tho statistical justification of this part of lilb plat- . form than upon tho social and economic justification of tho freehold. Ho' has only to quoto tho figures showing tho enormous growth of the cost of tho Service, tho recent hint from Mn. Mim.au that tho process of jobbery is only awaiting tho return of bluo skies to becomo again operative, the notorious examples of jobbery that Wellington pie aro familiar with, and other phases of tho present system of political control, to create a very decided feeling on the subject in the olectprate. Ho will not, wo hopo, omit to advocate the suporsosßion' of tho present system of railways administration. Apart from the question of land tenure, which, is, of course, all important, tho most important isßuq raisod by Mr. Hookley ib tho taxation question, Dr. Findlay has told us that the higher tho taxation the better, or something of tho sort, but wo' think that Hit. Hookley, since he is speaking to people who live in a world of fact,, and not in tho mists of . topsy-turvydpm, may quite ■;safely proceed with.' his ad'vocacy of reduced taxation. Wo have over and ovor again shown,,by quoting from official figures, that the riso in tho I taxation ppr head lias been due to the tremendous sums of monoy rfcquitcd by the Qovornmont for vote-purchasing purposes. In any other country in ■ the world, weboHpvo, in which there is honest government, Ministers would .regard with the gravest concern a steady and rapid incrpfvse in the por capita rate-of taxation, and hasten to find means of re: ducing it.. For nobody,with the,smallest pretension to.. statesmanship has ever denied that the less taxation the' State pan manage' with the better. Since, Mr: Hockley has "raised the question to the status of; an; election issue; 'we. really think that tho Government will not be showing a proper spirit if it fails, to send Da, Fikdlay to convince the Rangir tjkei farmer that taxation is a blessing, and to win his support by disclosing the Government's intention to • propose : a further; boon, of a like kind.V It vfould ba premature to compare, •Mr..- Hockley's platform with those of his... opponents until they have announced .them in greater detail. He certainly, i however; has mado an excellent beginning, and tho Reform Party appears to be very confident that hp will ■ carry their banner with success. ; '''; ; ■"•"/;' •;";.. •'■'"■;'• :. : :.