THE CITY ELECTIONS. MR. WILLIAM PRICE AT THE ARCADE.

Evening Post, Volume XXII, Issue 91, 15 October 1881, Page 2

THE CITY ELECTIONS. MR. WILLIAM PRICE AT THE ARCADE.

About 300 persons assembled at tho Arcade last night to hear an exposition of the political views of Mr. William Price, one of the candidates for tho Te Aro seat in the House of Representatives. Mr. C. M'lntyre was voted to the chair, and introduced the oandidate. Mr. Phice came forward amid applause and commenced by referring to the sacredness of the position of representative of the people, to which he said no one should aspire from personal or unworthy motives. He next went on to explain hia qualifications for the honour ha aspired to. He wa^, ho said, a colonist of about 27 years' standing. A representative ought to be (1) a man of good moral character, neither a " boozer," a '' swiper," nor a "loafer;" and (2), he should have some knowledge of and aptitude for public business, should hold definite political principles and possess ability to advocate these principles in "the great talking shop" of Galatia. — This was putting the qualification at the lowest standard. He claimed to be of good character and to possess the qualifications under the second head. He disclaimed any idea of desiring to benefit himself by being returned, and said he would lose more than he would gain by it It had been his lot from earliest boyhood to be initiated into public business. Before entering his teens he was deeply versed in all the intricacies of land rates, poor rates, tithes, Ac , and all through his life he had mixed in public affairs. He had served in the capacities of Municipal Councillor, Mayor, Royal Commissioner of the Victorian Water Woik-i (in which he took credit for making it one of most perfect of all the water works in Victoria). His modesty prevented him from saying anything more, except that, aa far as he was aware, he was always accredited with the sagacity and ability to discharge those duties creditably and satisfactorily. (Applause.) With regard to holding definite political principles, from a youth, at oil events, he had been a politician. At the earliest age he found himself a Chartist, and, having the courage of hi 3 opinions, had even at that age found himself a political Pariah. He had subscribed his sympathies to manhood suffrage, voting by ballot, equal electoral districts, no money qualification of members of Parliament, and the payment of momber3. He had been a journalist in Ballarat, aud according to his power had helped to give shape and form to tho advanced Liberalism of Victoria. Ihe candidate having made further reference to his past career, proceeded to deal at great length with the question of land tenure. The question of non- alienation of land wa=i what ho called his philo.-ophy of politioa, the central idea of his theory, rjund which revolved all other opinions aud ideas which he held. If practical effect were given to his views, he believed it would change the aspect of things in Now Zealand, fill the streets of the cities, and people tho land with tens of thousands of agricultural labourers, and bring prosperity and happiness where now nothing was heard but complaints of wretchedness and sorrow. He held that it was contrary to sound economic, social, and political principles that the lands of the country should be sold, and he would advocate the peremptory stoppage of further sales. This was the fundamental question which affected our future. He warned tho electors of tho colony agaiust returning squatters or lawyers to Parliament, the latter cliss making nine-tenths of their monoy out of conv-yancea of land for tho former. The land tenure had brought New Zealand to its present condition —it had damned and spoiled one of the noblest, ono of the most comprehensive, one oi the most statesmanlike policies that ever a joung coloDy aspired to givo effect to, the Public Works Policy. Ho accused the Premier of deliberately designing to thwart that policy, and said £that gentleman's name would go down to posterity as the man, ef all others, who had attempted to enslave and beggar the people of the colony. (Loud cheers.) The rnnholding interest ho denounced in vigorous terms, and said sheep caused all the misery of the present day. Where there were hundreds of thousands of sheep there ought to be tens of thousands of prosperous men and happy women spreading plenty and prosperity, and peaoo and blessing, ,far and wide. (Renewed cheers.) He quoted figures to show that the wealthy paid much less in proportion in the way of taxes than tho poorer classes. He knew the consequences of a man daring to lift up his voice against the foul robbery which was goinar on. A section of the Press would acreech and scream about creating class distinctions, and a cry would be raised from Willis-street across the Strait; but had they not class legislation at the present time, and had not the history of overy country been a conflict of classes for oenturies ? Scream and screech as they liked, this conflict must, and would, go on till the masses of the people had secured their right, viz., that the land is for the people, 'ihat wail was being wafted from poor old Ireland to the people here. He urged that the Government should lease the lands to all who were prepared to cultivate thorn, say, at first, for a period of 30 years. A man with small capital would not then, as at present, have to throw all his money into the soil and have nothing to cultivate it with. Some 14,000,000 acres of land having, however, been sold, it should be made to pay its fair share of the burdens of the colony by means of progressive taxation. An average of Is per acre would bring in a revenue of .£675,000. He wished to see a readjustment of the incidence of our tiTation, so that each man would pay only according to his means, and for this purpose he advocated an income tax, exempting say ,£250, and making a distinction between incomes derivable from property and from intellect. Then he would entirely sweep away all Custom House duties, which were a relic of despotism. He would not tax capital, but the products of capital. He was in favour of free, sacu'ar, and compulsory education. The State gave education merely as a police precaution and the security of civilization, and he would have the highest branches of education taught free in every school in the colony up to any age ; to stop at the IV. Standard was unwise. It had been said the system was too expensive. Well it should not be reduced in tho wrong direction ; they should not begin with the children of the poor, but a commencement should be made with universities aud highly endowed colleges If the State was paying too much, the wealthy should pay for university and secondary education. Coming to the Representation Bill, ho said the Hon. John Hall had manipulated the bill in the interests of property. Wellington had, for instance, been, divided into three electorates, because property-men could vote in all, whereas the poor man could only exercise i one vote. Ho was in favour of one vote for every man in the country. The candidata then sat down amid applause. In answer to questions, Mr. Price said if his will were carried out there would be no Customs, and consequently there could be no protection of local industries. He" was not in favour of protective duties. (Applause ) Of all things to reduce the wages of working men, a protective policy was the most potent ; it was a policy inimical to the well-being of the country. He would endeavour to amend the bankruptcy laws in any manner that common Bense would show to be right and effectual. The administration of the law shou'd be in the hands of a commissioner. Nothing gave room for mora tricking than the present system of appointing trustees. He was in favour of members, when appointed to offices in tho Ministry, going back to their constituents. Prisoners should ba taught in gaol some useful occupation, so that they might have something to fall back upon when released. While he did not think they should be brought into competition with skilled labour, he did not believe any great injury would be done to outsiders in a colony like New Zealand. He had never been able to obtain any intelligent idea of what local government was here ; it sesmed to be a jumble of attempts at expediency. Broadly, what Btruck him was that tho system wanted aimplif jing greitly. In the

matter of education, ho would sweep away such obstructions to truo education as boards and school committees. Instead of these there onght to be a Commissioner of Education. It had been his opinion from boyhood that members of Parliament ought to be paid. Money and other qualifications had been done away with, and members Bhould be paid for their services He was not in favour of two houses, bnt if there were two the Upper House ought to be elective, and ought, like the Lower House, to go to their constituencies on any great question. Members of the Legislative Council were there to protect their own properties, and should not be paid. Mr. Niass moved a vote of thanks to tho candidate, which was seconded by Mr. Hudson. Some one in the body of tho hall moved a vote of confidence, but there was no seconder. Mr. Pbice said he did not want a vote of confidence ; such votes were not worth much. He preferred that they should hear all the other candidates, and then show their confidence at the polling booth.