THE OTAKI SEAT.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1259, 16 October 1911, Page 6

THE OTAKI SEAT.

MR. MONCKTON OPENS. I CAPITAL FIGHTING SPEECH. WARDISM TROUNCED. "THESE THINGS COST A KING HIS HEAD." Mr. C. A. W. Monckton, Reform candidate for the Otaki eeat, opened his campaign on Saturday when ho addressed a la.Vgo audiejico at Packaluuiki. He had a cordial reception. , After a few preliminary remarks Mr. Mpncicton proceeded to stal'o that tho Administration had been guilty of iriteinporato and ill-considered legislation arid in tho teoth of tho Opposition, tho members of which had pointed out' faults and had been over-ruled. Ono or two of tho Government's Acts would substantiate his case. One of tho Acta was tho passing of the famous libel law. This law onactcd that tho truth of tho charges brought by ono man against anothor should not' be any defence to a charge of libel in u Court of Law. Ho thought that truth should bo iv sufficient ground for bringing a chargo against anyone. The law had also removed a fundamental principle from our laws—that of trial by jury. This was tho greatest right that had been wrested from King John by' his barons—that no man should bo sent to gaol without trial by jury. That light Sir Joseph Ward, advised by Sir John Findlay, thought was a bad thing for tho people of New Zealand to have. Wardism and the Courts, Having removed tho right of trial bj jury, tho Government's next step was to introduce secret courts of justice. As long as courts were open the Judges would not dare to seek to pleaso the Government as against tho people, and if they did tho people could send the Governliient out of oHice; but if the courts were iept closed tho people could not know ■what was going on. He reforred to tho recent trial of a prominent politician, known as the "Secret Case." This mini, charged in effect with misappropriating ,£3OOO or more, was at length brought' to trial, although tho Government inado uso of every possible engine to delay tho hearing of the case. They were successful for thrco years, but so much pressufo was brought to tear that tho case had to be heard. Tlio decision of the Court was against the defendant, but the defendant was not sent to gaol; ho produced medical certificates, and on that ground the man was liberated. Very different was the lot of a poor Government clerk who had ' summarily arrested and cast into prison for misappropriating some .£■!, in spito • of tlio fact that he was suffering from tho dread disease consumption. Was not this one law for tho ri.ch and another for the poor? ■ > ■ Thore had also been tho CopI: Islands Inquiry. For months and months a few of the. settlers in the Islands had been screaming for redress from the autocratic • acts of tho local administration. They had at length, with the aid of the.Reform press of tho country, secured tho infinity. It was gTantcd by the Native Minister only under great pressure, and \ the Chief Justice conducted the inquiry in secret. The evidence was not taken on oath, and his report was made to the Minister, instead of to Parliament. Was this the modern method of dispensing justice? Some. By-ways of Wardism, Having established 1 tho principle of secret Courts, tho Government next Bought to complete the subjugation of the people by secret legislation. So it was that a huge block of country was handed ovor to- a band of land speculators bv Order-in-Council. In tho end tho lajicl would be turned over at a fabulous profit to the genuine settlers. No loss than tlireo groups of speculators had a hand in tho. Jlokau pie—and the legal representative of one of tho speculators was the firm of Messrs. Findlay and Dalziell, of which Sir John Findlay was a member. An inquiry, into this business was also forced by the Reform Party, and at tlio inquiry, which was conducted by a Committee' of nine pronounced Government supporters and two Reform Party supporters, the evidence showed that tho original Native owners wero not only cajoled and cozened, 'but forced ; out of. possession of their i? j • . „ ' : '" s w<,ls made possible by 1 Order-in-Council provided for by a clause in 'no Act, very much different from a cla.uso introduced by tho Government making tlio ordinary individual who attempted tho saino sort-of thing, ever if in a vor y , small way, liable to a lino of or to imprisonment lor live years. The fact was that to nearly every Act m iariiament passed nowadays there was tagged so.no wretched littlo clause, "the tiovernor-in-Coancil may do so and so." lilts meant that tho Ministers could revoko, amo id, extend, or throw tho Act on ono side. Was it right that an Act of Parliament should contain a clause allowing one man to do as he pleased with the whole Act? "No One Knows What that £5,000,000 Loan Cost." Secret courts established, and secret legislation made possible, tho Government could desiro only ono further extension of power, and that was the right to levy secret taxation. Impossible its it seemed, the Governmout had actually tog** this right. , Only lest session the Minister required power to tax directly the settlers of Hauraki Plains. The •«i wn ? to '' Je ' ev i u d for drainage -works ■without any representation on tho part of the settlers, and without their havin" nnv control over tho expenditure. Tho only just course would bo to allow the farmers concerned to be formed into a drainago board, but this was not by any moans good enough for tho Ward Government. This Government required the right to levy direct taxation, and there was no compulsion put upon them even to spend the money on tho works for which the taxes were levied. 'Tho samo undemocratic, unconstitutional, surreptitious policy was pursued in our financial administration. .Suddenly an astounded country learned that a live million loan had been floated in London. No one knew how much or what that five million cost, and who got commisaon, brokerage, or anything else Dut of it. And ■ when Mr. James Allen moral bo havo this information supplied to Parliament Sir Josoph Ward cliaractonsed the chr.ise as "politically ofi'enmve. The clause was thrown* out, as was another to the effect that the information bo supplied two years hence A moro monatrous piece of political effrontery or a greater insult to the people of the country it was impossible to conceive. I.'icy woro simplv told bv the mushroom baronet that tho public "purse was his concern and not theirs. "Should Cost the Baronet His Billet." Secret courts, secret legislation, tho re.Tioyal of trial by jury, the appointment. di favourites othor than from among tho representatives of tho people as Ministers of tho Crown, tho imposition of taxation by Ministers and not by Parliament—all these tho democratic Ward Government had achioved. History told how a King who tried, with indifferent success, to do all these things, lost his crown and his head. Surely acta which, three hundred years ago, cost a King his head wero bad enough to cost a baronet his billet today. And Why Does Wardism Tax lis So? Tho samo bcneficont Government lmptswl fresh taxation to tho extent of .£-1-18,000 in order to raise .£330,000 for the Dreadnought and other purposes—<£llß,ooo more taken out of the peoplo's pockets than was necessary. Also the taxes on innd realised .£385,755 in 1005-0, and .£(<1*2.1170 in liio9-10—an increase of nearly 9 quarter of a million. Tlio Government ■•as empowered to spend half a million pounds in land settlement, but this had not all been spent by any means. Jn tho "fist time years the Government had only once reached that amount and that was in election year, lilOS. They had, in fact, spent X' 333,810 less than they wero empowered to spend. As a matter of fact land settlement, the most important thing in a young country, was at a standstill owing to the failure of tlio Government land policy. In no country in tho norlrf was there a hpavior Customs duty. _ Thoso Customs duties were not fcajes which -weighed heavily on tho opulent dMs.es, they had to be faced aliko by. rich and poor, Jn

Russia tlio Customs duties amounted to 7s Id. per head of population! in Germany, to 15s. 2d.; in Great Britain, to <£1 lis. 3d.; in tho United States, to 13s. Id.; in Canada, to >£2 2s. 11(1.; in Australia, to Xi 10s. 8(1.; and in Now Zealand, to .£3 1)5. Td. Of these countries tlio older had to support tlio costly armies and navies, and Canada was carrying on an activo but cxpeusivo land settlement policy. It was true that tlio Ward party Mid "dono something towards reducing duties on certain articles; articles such as silk, satin, lace, billiard tables, and motor-cars, all presumably necessaries for our newly-crcated aristocracy, lint such articles as boots, bicycles, clothes, bacon, barley, Hour, coffee, and cocoa all paid duties. A man who bought a .£lO bicycle, for instance, paid no loss than .£2 in duty, but the man who bought a X.'iflO motor-car cot oil' practically scot free. So long as tlio Ward Government was in office, wo would never get anything oilier than more and more increasing taxation from them. It was only by (he reckless waste of tho money that they extracted from tho pooplo that they remained in power. Who are, and were, the real Liberals? In a recent spccch his opponent, Mr. Field, had said that tho outstanding features of the Opposition party's policy were inaccuracy, unfairness, and mudslingiug, that their real policy .was "To repeal all the statutes that gave every adult man and woman a vote, and then to take away one by one tho various beneficial Acts passed by the present Government since 1S01." All this was absolutely untrue, for it was Sir John Hall who had given, in the first instance, a vote to every man who had lived six months in a district; it was Sir Harry Atkinson who had passed tho law. making it impossible for ono man to exercise a property as well as o residential vote; it was 'Sir John Hall who had given the women tho vote, and such champions of the Liberal party—Carroll, I'. Mackenzie, and Ward—had voted against tho Bill. It was Mr. Massey who had iirst suggested the Advances to Workers Bill. Was it likely that the party that had first suggested these measures should now i be anxious to repeal them? For the Freehold. He stood with the leader of the party for the freehold system of land tenure, and for the leasehold with right of purclia.se. He was opposed to tho reaggrcgation of large areas, and to prevent it ho would suggsst a somewhat radical method. He would have all the land in the Dominion classified, and pass a law fixing the utmost limit of area which any one mail could acquire, providing also that, if tho limit were exceeded, (lie surplus land should revert to the Crown. Ho believed that every man in the country would prefer to own 200 acres of freehold rather than lease 400 acres. Even if tlio State wore the landlord thero could not be security under leasehold. Even the 999 years' leneo had been attacked, and by a Minister of tho Ctowu (Sir. J. A. Millar), who had urged that, because the State had made a contract only with the holder of 'the 999 years' lease, and not with his widow or relatives, his lease ought, on his death, to escheat to the Crown. Railways—"Absolutely Rotten." Tho railway administration in this country was "absolutely rotten." Tho real object of railways should be to cheapen transport,'but the objects followed iu, this country were to raise taxation, to dispense political patronage, and to briba electorate. It was this last which caused such works as the Otira Tunnel to bo started—works which never could pay axle grease for the locomotives running through them. Ho advocated the administration of tho railways being handed over to a thoroughly qualified general manager, free from political inIhicivee. 110 showed, that the railway servants wo e not always fairly treated by tho Government, although increases were given'to cortain of them before the election. to be followed after tlio election by a rent, chargo for the houses in which they lived, lie believed that the railway servants had gravo grievanccr- which ought to be removed. (Applause.) Vote of Confidence. In answer to a question, Mr. Monckton stated that he did not belicvo in a nominative Legislative Council. The Second Chamber should bo elective, and he certainly did not bclievo that the Prinio Minister ought to lie allowed to select as a Minister a man who did not represent a constituency. On tlio motion of Mr. S. Smith, seconded by Mr. W. M'Donald, a vote t of thanks and confidence . was accorded to Mr. Monckton. The voto was earned unanimously with applause.