The Hastings Standard Published Daily. FRIDAY, NOV. 6, 1896. MR FITZROY AT GISBORNE.

Hastings Standard, Issue 165, 6 November 1896, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily.

FRIDAY, NOV. 6, 1896. MR FITZROY AT GISBORNE.

For the cans'" tli.it I.v'hs n ..i i'or the wrungi that re-istanci. I'ur tie future in tlie di~trino'.\ And the <;r>od that we can do

Mr Fitz.Roy, Mayor of Hastings and a candidate for the Wainpu scat, tired his first shot in the political campaign at Gisborne on Wednesday evening, and from the report in the local paper it appears to have been well received. The Herald considers that •' Mr I-'itz-Roy is not a brilliant speaker, but he showed that lie can take his place upon the platform and tell a plain unvarnished tale in straightforward, manly tones that command respect, lie is no fire-works orator, not given to bluster, bounce, or bunkum, like many politicians, and would never make a stonewaller, nor should we imagine that he would want to." The candidate explained how he came to seek their suffrage. There was no one in the district with ability who had time at his disposal to take up the cudgel < on behalf of the Opposition, and rather than the Government should haven walk over he had stepped into the breach. The task he had set himself was not a light one, and the audience appeared to appreciate his courage in standing up to a Minister of the Crown. In opening he wished to say he posed neither a« a Liberal nor a Conservative, for he held the terms Conservatism and Liberalism, as known in the sense they used to know them in the Old Country, were in no way applicable to the political position of New Zealand at the present day. During the past three years the Parliament of New Zealand had been the laughing stock of the rest of the Australasian colonies, and in his opinion this was simply owing to the abominable sy~tvm of party government, under which men would deliberately vote

contrary to their consciences, simply because they felt bound to keep in office the party of which they professed to be members. The Elective Executive and the -Referendum found favor in his eyes. As to lands for settlement ho thought the acquisition of the freehold was the real object for which people came to New Zealand, and not to be nisi do slaves to the Crown for their lives. Mr Fit/Roy stigmatised the Pomahaka purchase as " one of the most shameful exhibitions of debauchery of an Act of Parliament that anyone could possibly conceive." He dealt at length with the colony's finances, and recommended strict economy in all departments. lie advocated greater powers bcin^ r given to local bodies for raising the necessary funds for local works, the general Government guaranteeing the interest on the loans in order that the local bodies might be enabled to get the money at the lowest possible rates. He denounced the seizing of the sinking funds and then waded into prohibition, advocating a tluvc-lifths majority. He said it was a curious coincidence, but nevertheless it was a fact, that whenever a so-called Liberal Government was put out of otlice and was succeeded by a so-called Conservative Government, invariably trade prospered, capital flowed, and the condition of the country generally improved. No doubt this accounts for the anxiety of certain politicians for a change, and if it can bo shown that they have any reasons for their statements they are certainly worthy of consideration. Mr Fitzßoy is as much a Liberal as a Conservative, but he appears to be extremely anxious to witness the downfall of the Seddon Government.