THE COMING ELECTIONS.

Evening Star, Issue 7282, 5 August 1887, Page 2

THE COMING ELECTIONS.

, MR T. MACKENZIE AT OLUTHA. Mr Thomas Mackenzie, a candidate.for the representation of the Oltttha district, filet the tjlefctors for tye first tithe 1 at ftarr's Hall} Balyttyh*, last hjlht. Mr J; M'Cbrley (Mayor tt ftaiclutba) occupied. Uio chair, arid the Halt was crowded.

Mr MackpfeiK was received with applause. He expressed the pleasure it gave him to find that his appearance gave so much satisfaction, and that at the outset he should receive such marks of approval and sympathy in connection with his candidature. He thought it was only right that be sh< uld give some of the reasons which had prompted him to seek the suffrages of the eleotors. In the first place, he had been reared in New Zealand, the whole of his interests were centred in the Colony, and he had a special regard for the district in Which he intended to reside. He wished to see the Colony progress; and unless a ohatige wßrßmadtt intho management of ottr. public affairs, the present depression would be only increased. We occupied a very important position in regard to the development of the country—we were actually the founders of what must at some time become a Very prosperous nation; but if we continued an expenditure beyond the requirements of the Colony, and kept up a form of government fit for a people four or five times our number, our future would be imperilled. YOUNG NEW ZEALAND would have to stand the consequences of any mismanagement at this time, and he, as one of the youth of this Colony, .came forward to assist, if possible, In the management of the country's affairs. (Applause.) It must be evident to everyone that tills Colony was not as prosperous as it should be. We bad a soil superior to that of the neighboring oolonies) we had a climate which assisted that soil to produce crops equal, if not superior, to any raised in any other part of the world; and we had A people who were Very industrious. Our produots, as shown by the export values, were steadily increasing, and so far as the actual producers of the country were concerned every nerve was being strained toWards prosperity. If with a good climate, an industrious people, and every economy on the part of actual producers, we were not making every progress, it followod that the public affairs of the Ooldny were not being properly irianaged.— (Applatise.) He was deSidedly of opinion that the management could be improved. He considered air Julius Vogel's public works and immigration scheme a brilliant one, and that had it been carried out wisely, and the borrowed money spent judiciously, it would have brought untold wealth. The country received a blow with the abolition of the provinces, and had not recovered since. BttrttHNfJHttßNl'i The publio expenditure had increased oUt of all prdpprtloh to' requirements,, and .in our tradesmen s and frlerchants' homes there had been extravagance. Since 1870 the cost of legislation had increased from L 19.000 to L 46.000, and of the ordinary branches of the Civil Service from L 49.000 to L2,0C0,000. Economy must be practised in regard to the allowances made to the Governor; a very heavy reduction must be made in the allowances to Ministers of the Crown; and the number of members in the Lower House ought to be reduced to sixty—(applause)—upon some new basis of representation. There were too many town members, but the number of country ones was about right. Two men could represent Dunedin and suburbs better than several who were returned by different parts. He would bo in favor of reducing the honorarium of Lower TElousc -to lAOO, and he wouU certainly not allow it to be more than Llso.—(Applause.) A sum of LSO Would be quite sufficient for members of the Upper House. It was absurd that each of these men should have received L 0 for every hour's work last year. He did not advocate tlie abolition of the Council) it being teliUirbdi hbt so rriuch to check hasty legislation, but to weed out the weaknesses that a democracy might force on the House. He thought, however, that there ought to be some such qualification as a retired Minister, or Under-Secretary; members ought to have had public experience of the most useful character, and to be well up in details.—(Applause.) Such savings as he advocated would reduce the expenditure to the extent of L 30,000 annually. —(Applause.) The printing in the Colonial Secretary's department, whioh cost L 21,060, should be done by tender. The Babbit Department, which cost L 30.000, besides figuring in the unauthorised expenditure list for L 5.500, ought to be placed under the control of the county councils, whose powers should be extended. Stock-owners had to pay 2s for every hundred sheep that thoy had, and so L 15.090 was raised. A class tax ,of this description was not fair, arid so rnany sheep inspectors as we had were not required when there was no scab in the country.—(Applause.) A saving of L 20.000 might be made in the subsidies given for the mail services. The San Francisco service was not required when America shut her ports to our products. He would subsidise so as to get competition among steamers, and thus cause a lowering of the freights. (ApplaUse.) Two steamers had received subsidies of L 7.000 for arriving at afl earlier date than was laid down in the contract. Ho thought a stop should be put to that sort of thing at any rate. ( nly one vessel should be allowed to the Customs Department.

THE EDUCATION VOTE had cost L 509,000 last year. His friends had told liim to approach this subject very gingerly, but he did not flinch from saying this sum was beyond our means. The minimum age of town scholars should be increased to seven years, but a distinction should be made in the country, as the free education was one of the few benefits settlers received from our indirect taxation. — (Applause.) He objected to the overlapping of the primary and secondary schools, and thought that the high schools ought to be made almost entirely self-supporting. It was not right in a country steeped almost to the neck in deH to give such privileges to the wealthier class ill the matter of education. The Deft nee, Mines, and Native Departments ought to be amalgamated, and reductions Bhould be made in the expenditure on defence. It had been proposed to sell our railways so as to reduce our indebtedness), and the scheme had some points in its favor; but a hasty conclusion should not be arrived at on such an important subject. According to Colonel Sargood the Victorian railways paid the whole of the interest on the national debt; and he found that|in New South Wales, with the exception of a quarter of a million, a similar result had been achieved. Ho thought there was something radically wroug with our railways when they paid so little.—(A Voice :" Wo want people.") THE I'RESENT LAND LAWS wore good in some respects. The perpetual leasing system commended itself to him as a liberal one; so also was the small grazing run system, but he did not think that the village settlements were calculated to forward the interests of the country much. As some L 60.000 or L 70,000 had beou spent on it, however, it should be given a trial. There ought to be a classification, which would admit of a person who had LI.OOO or L 2.000 buying a farm from the Government. At the present time this could not be done. It was a strange anomaly that in Auckland land was sold from 5s upwards, and in Otago not a single acre would bo given for less than 20s. He was strongly against thu Land Acquisition BUI, as we bad 30,000,000 acres of Crown lands unoccupied, and the proposed system might open the door to corruption. Ho was also against the present constitution of land boards, which should only consist of the Chief Commissioner, Chief Surveyor, and a third gentleman woll acquainted with the country. ~ TAXATION. 1 He did not sympathise with the cry for a land and income tax in place of the property tax. It was said that the property tax was obnoxious. All taxes were. He did not know that it was more inquisitorial than the income tax, or that it taxed industries any more. He thought the property tax should be maintained, because it reached the property of every individual in the country. If it was abolished, the towns would not contribute their fair quota, and the land would have to bear the difference. In theory the income tax was all right, but in practice it proved to be the most unjust of taxes, as only the conscientious paid what was due; and those whose incomes were not exactly ascertainable —suoh as lawyers and dob'tors—had the ohance of escaping to a great extent. The question of

WEETRADE AND PROJECTION bad been creating more stir lately than any other, with the exception perhaps of the Bible in schools.—(Laughter.) The Colony had 558 manufacturers, 5,750 farmers, and 91 mining companies, and we were asked to protect the industries for the 558 manufacturers. Well, this Colony could not have Freetrade if it wanted it, and on the other hand we should not allow Protection to a very great extent. We must have a tariff for revenue purposes, and it naturally afforded some protection to industries. To his mind this was sufficient to promote the growth of industries natural to tho country.—(Hoar.) Sir Julius Vogel had brought forward a tariff by which many articles, such as drapery and boots, had to bear an increased duty. No doubt he did this for protective purposes, and if the tariff answered its purposes the revenue would fall off. How was the loss to be made up ? Would the people engaged in the industries consume an extra quantity of dutiable articles? The difference would have to be made up in some way, and the question was whether the people in the country would be in a better position to pay more. Protection, to his mind, simply meant an increased cost of articles for the benefit of the manufacturers.—(Applause.) Such industries as fruit-growing, jam-making, and perhaps whisky - making, might be encouraged as far as a reasonable tariff would permit.—(A Voice: "Yes; we can j grow barley.") He did not Bee why so much money should be sent out of the Colony for whisky when it could be made in the Colony, and there was such a demand for it. He was an advooate of Freetrade as far as ouj| means would admit, and he would like to sea intercolonial freetrade established.—(Applause.) If the colonies were going to attain the distinction which was possible, it would be by mutual assistance.— (ThoGHAiRMAN: Oh! they won't do that.—Laughter.) He thought they would. (An

ELe&tgr : Victdria won't have anything to do #ijfli:itf;) That was tha general supposition, 'and be almost ianticipated a remark of that sort, so he had provided himself with sorte references, to what Sir Graham Berry had said Sn the. sttMeot. •At Adelaide; on his way to inilantl, Ee 1M Bald "The present Victonan Gotetaiilehfc,; lie believed; .we're in Svdr or intercbldnlal Freetrade; bilt that did niit rfleanmuch'.". Later on he remarked : "As the Protection of one colony against the others would, pe attended with undesirable results, he advocated intercolonial Freetrade." New Zealand did a large trade with the other colonies, sending L1i600,000 worth of products in.ex«hangeforLl,2so,ooo. ToNewSouth Wales we exported the .value of LBOO.OOO, and took in exchange L 600.000; to 'Victoria L667.00Q, taking in exchange L 606.000; to Queensland L 36.000 as against L92.C00. If he ever got into the House one of the main questions he would take up would be this intercoloniol Freetrade.—(Applause).—(AnELECTOß: You Will get in.—Applause.) Well, he hoped to Set in, if it Was for nothlpg else. He had had Is heart in this for the last -four or five yoars. That would be the means of developing our agricultural and pastoral industries. If a commission of representatives of thedif* ferent colonies—practical men—Went into the facts he was sure that substantial results would be traced out. Wo heard a great deal about the federation of the Empire, and, if we opened our ports to one another, it would be the first step to federation in the South.—(Applause.) We were so circumstanced that we ought to help each other. In the future We would become great and important countries, and if we did not establish friendly relations, if we went in continually for Protection instead of growing up together [in harmony, _ we might eventually break out into open hostilities. CONCLUSION. In conclusion, Mr Mackenzie said that we must make reductions in the expenditure to meet the failing revenue at all hazards; we must devote our attention to intercolonial freetrade, and regulate the subsidies to the mail steamers, so as to secure a reduction in the cost of the transit of our goods to the markets of England. We rnußt encourage local industries peculiar to us and likely to prosper, and practise economy, so that in two years' tittle we could present a balanccsheet which would reassure people at a distance, and encourage men of Means to Come to the Colony arid invest them. At present the public indebted* ness was L£i4j000,000; and the private indebtedness (by mortgage) L 32,000,000, L16,000,U00 or L 17,000,000 of which was due to residents of the Cokny. The total indebtedness of the Colony was L 92,000,000, but our assets presented a favorable aspect. From the assessment valuations of 1886 he found the following figures:—Real property, L 116,000,000; personal, L 82.000.000; public bu.ldings and railway plant, L 20,000,000. That made a total of 1218,000,000 as against L 92.000.000, so that the Colony Was L12f1,000,000 to the good. -(Hear.) It thUs appeared that the Colony was not in a bad state if properly, managed, and if in two yoars we sent Home showing whSt we Had done in*the meantime and the real -position of the Colony, we would find that people with means would be induced to settle in the Colony. We wanted these people to take up our waste lands and work them. He had to thank the meeting for the patient hearing they had given him. That was his first attempt at public speaking, and as such it should be judged.— (Great applause.) He esteemed it a very high honor to receive such a patient hearing from his fellow-New Zealanders, and he could assure them that if he were elected their representative they could depend upon getting the best services he could command.—(Applause.) He asked the electors to consider the merits of each canclid&te calmly, anil not to be biassed by any influenacs brought to bear on them. Let them judge for themselves, use their liberty as thinking beings, and not be led by the nose.— (Applause.) He had enunciated his principles, and he intended to adhere to them. If ejected, his services would be at the disposal of the people oil all oecasions,**-(Great applause.) The ChalrmaS then said that the candidate was prepared to answer any questions that might be put to him. Dr Smith : There is one very important question, and that is the Bible in schools. He haß not touched upon that at all. Mr Mackenzie : I am in favor of the Bible in schools.—(Applause.) Mr Gbigok inquired how the income tax was inferior to the property for revenue purposes. Mr Mackenzie : The difference would come in this way: a firm might easily show just now that it is making no profit, and so it could not be taxed. Apart from ascertainable incomes you have simply to take a man's statment. We know that there are many instances at Home where men do not put down their actual incomes, and that is, no doubt, why many sums are paid into the Exchequer as "conscience money." Mr Hogg : Is it true that you come out as a supporter of the Stout-Vogel Government ? Mr Mackenzie : It is not true. I do not pledge myself to any Government just now.— (Applause). I shall follow the Government that I think will carry out the principles that I have enunciated. Certainly I should folio if Sir Robert Stout in preference to Major Atkinson. I have no sympathy with the latter, who is purely a North Island rriah. (Applause). I may say that I am going up a thorough independent. lam one of those ''independent nuisancos " the Government complain so mttbh about; but I see from the Evening Stab that the " independent nuisances " saved the Colony during the last few years. In answer to further questions, the candidate said that he would extend the Representation Act, so as to allow a man to choose between a leasehold a d a household vote, and he would also allow females holding property, spinsters, and widows to cxeicise the franchise. He thought that officers of the Civil Service, who had gone out of the Colony and were residing abroad, should forfeit their pensions. If it could be shown that the money to be expended on the Otago Central would realise interest he would support the construction of the line, but not otherwise. He was not in favor of giving bonuses to floating flour-mills. It was quite true that he had to pay for the printing of 800 electoral forms.—(Groans.) The ChaieMajJ : Are you in favor of establishing agricultural schools so that farmers can learn the difference between turnip seed and rape seed ?- (Great laughter arid applause ) ' Mr Mackenzie : My experience in turnip and | rape seeds is that it is impossible to tell the difference until they grow. We had that pretty well threshed out before Mr Justice "Williams. Mr R. Hogg : Would you in some manner have mosey given to the farmers at a cheaper rate than they pity at present ?—(Hear.) Mr Mackenzie : That is a very important question, and it is one that the Government ought to take up and properly work ou"t. Money might be borrowed at Home at 4 per cent, and advanced on freehold security to the extent of half the valuation at 4£ ptr cent. I think that if that wero done it would help the farmers considerably, and I myself see no difficulty in the way. —In answer to other questions, the candidate said that he agreed that d simpler form of mortgage transfers was required, and that the First Offenders' Probation Act was a very excellent law. He did not think that we should go in for much more immigrationat thepresenttime.—(Applause.) Weshould endeavor to induce a better class of poople to come out, and should pay half their passage money. He thought himself that the natural increase of population was very promising,— (Laughter.) A State Bank of Isslro was impracticable. He had not made up his mind as to whether it was advisable to sell the railways. If they Were sold, a very hard and fast bargain would have to be made with the buyers as to maximum rates. Ho was much opposed to the Midland Railway. Up to the present no one kne» the arrangements thai had been entered into with the Company, and the whole thing was very unsatisfactory. He would support the continuation of the Clutha River 1 ne. Mr J. Hogg moved—"That this meeting consider that Mr Mackenzie is the most fit and proper person to represent our district in the House of Representatives." Mr Heckler seconded the motion,, which was carried by acclamation and enthusiasm, three cheers being given for Mr Mackenzie.