MR REARDON AT HASTINGS.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 9535, 22 November 1893, Page 3

MR REARDON AT HASTINGS.

Mi Reardou addressed the electors ab Hastings laeb night in the Princess Theatre, There was a large attendance, The Mayor, Mr 6. Ellis, occupied the choir, and brhfly introduced tho candidate, Mr Reardoo, who was received with applause, said that he was contesting the seat at tf:e tequest of the Liberal party and as the cljO3eu representative of the Government, 16 was not true, as Captain Russell bad snid, thati the Government were supporting Mr Reardon and Mr Tanner, for the Government supported the speaker alone. Captain Russell said that he was a Constitutional Liberal, hut that only meant that he was in favor of stagnation, Captain Russell said the railway management was perfect, bub the speaker was sure thab the reverse was the case. The Commissioners sweated £3000 a year from the email farmers of Ashburton, When the Ballance Government was formed they were told Mr Ballance would be no good as a leader, but he proved a good one. He had now unfortunately passed away, but bis mantle had fallen upon Mr Serfdom The Liberal Government did not think of any small section of the community, but did what was right for all. The Conservative party did not want a strong Premier like Mr Seddon, but one who would give way to their own little dodges. The speaker read extracts from newspipers to show that Mr Seddon was a worker— one who worked day and night to benefit the people— and the people therefore ought to stick to Mr Seddon's Government. In losing Mr Ballance the colony lost one who was the greatest statesman of his [lay, If It had not been tor Mr Ballance the ladies would not have been able to record tbeir votes at this election, Let ladies think of the measures brought in by that great man. (Applause ) When '.he Opposition went back to the House after the last general eleotion they weie in the minority, but they made appointments to the Upper Honse, snch men as Mr Ormond and )therp. The Government wore quite right In seeking to make further appointments to the Upper House, so that their measures passed by the Lower House ibould be made law. (Applanse.) He lid not believe in life appointments to the Upper House. It was better that the jppointments shonld be for seven years. A.t the last election he stood as tbe advocate ot a land and income tax. He was told he was tickling the ears of the. ?ronndlings, and than it would ruin the solony to bring in a land and income tax. Yet tbe tax had been introduced, cud all knew how successful it had been. It brought in more than the estimated revenne by £15,000. The property tax was calculated to drive capital from the country, because it taxed ioiprovements, whereas the land and income tax exempted them. It was said tint the tux would result in lesß labor being employed, but he thought people would do the most they could with their land so as to pay an increased taxation. The land tax was n boon to small farmers, as they paid less than under the property tax. The Opposition objected to graduated taxation, but it meant equality of taxation, (The speaker read an extract from a pamphlet to show that graduated taxation was not bad ) He asked would the. ladies of the electorate be content to see the large estates all round them, while tbeir children had not an acre upon which they could settle. The electors of the district were asked to support men who in the past were largely responsible for the large estates. The Government had bean twitted with not redncing the taxation upon the necessaries of life. It was only a cry. It might have some force were it nob a fact that the Grey Government was the only Liberal Government that redused tbe taxation on the necessaries of life, and then the Opposition said it was wrong. (The speaker quoted from a speech by Mr Bolleston in 1887 to show that it was bad policy to take off 2d a pound of the tax on tea.) Captain Russell had proposed to take off the taxation on the necessaries ■of life, and depend upon direct taxation. But that was only putting money into one pocket to take it out of another. Why, it was equal to a poll tax. Dr. Newman, one of tbe Opposition, proposed as an amendment to tne land tax that absentees should be taxed. The Govern ment were glad to accept that. The speaker believed iv taxing absentees. (Applause.) Captain Russell had said the absentee tax would do the country barm, but it had compelled the owner of the Woburu estate to come back and reside in tbe country. And he was now spending more in Improvements than he had done ior twenty years before. On the question of local bodies, he thought the time had come when the Government shonld take that question in hand. At present there were 2125 local bodies in the colony, each emplo.wug separate clerks, OTereeers, and fo on, causing greab expense to the ratepayers. If the Government reduced the number of local bodies that would be altered, fie was in favor of the rating of local bodies beiucc on the unimproved value. He was an upholder of the principle of the lease in perpetuity, as it enabled men of small capital to improve their land. The opponents of it said that it gave the land away, and wa^an injustice to those who were not seeking to hold lands. But when tbe rich lands of the colony were sold for 10s an acre, those people did not object that the land was being given away. It was the selfishness of the Conservative party on the land question that drove them from power, and would prevent them ever getting back to power again. (Applause.) He tbonght the Government shonld not soil another acre of Ciown land, but only lease ib under the perpetual lease or the lease in perpetuity. The monopoly of land ought to be retained by the State, so as to provide for the development of the country. He was in favor of woman suffrage, because women cared more for the welfare of their children than the meu did. Th<? ladies should therefore bo ou tbo Liberal tide, whose (lag bore the device "Tbo land for tho people." (Appliini-x,) The speaker -.-~*«^ r,mivnK ahowißg the area of

land held by companies and large owners. A great deal of that -land was acquired unlawfully by dummy Ism. He also quoted from a return showing that in South Canterbury, ont of £65)929 worth of land, a large portion was subsequently aoqnlred by companies and big owners, It bad been said that village settlements were failures, but if that were so it was because the settlements had been placed in unsuitable localities'. And In any cobo they hid not been the great failures s'jme people made them out to be. He woa£.d like to Ree some village settlements a L'ODp'e of miles i from Hastings, si that the peopL" BoU ld get a small piece of land to settle oil/ He defended tfie Government with respect t° the attacks made upon tlia cooperative works system, and read an extract from a Southern paper in favor nf it. .Of course the coutraotors were against the system, because if he went in for a contract he expected a profit oat of it, whereas under the Government system there was no contractor, and the profits were divided among the people. Ho defended the purchase of the Cheviot estate, which had opened up a large area of land for settlement, And if nn estate five times as big as the CheWob were opened' np there would be an applicant for every section of it. He wanted to see a Cheviot in Hawke's Bay. (Applause.) The Government last session brought in the Land for Settlement Bill, under which they could take land in any district, It was said to be nnfnir, but he did not agree with that. He described the mode of taking the land as provided by the Act. In his opinion there was nothing fairer, and be could not see that nny great autocratic power was Riven to the Minis ter of Lands. The people should demand that the Government sbonld force that bill into law. Be narrated how at a previous meeting he was going tospeak on a question, and looked for a clipping from a newspaper that had some figures on it. He supposed somebody must have played a joke upon bim, for he found on the clipping the weights of tha Otago Cap. Well, possibly somebody had performed a similar trick with Captain Russell, and so when he tried to speak on figures he only mixed up the Financial Statement with the weights of the Otago Cap. (Uproar and applause.) For that reason he would not criticise Captain Russell's figures. The speaker defended the Labor Bureau. He considered the Government Liquor Bill was one that ought to be acceptable to both parties. The liquor traffic bad been the growth of ages, and to abolish it at once would cause a reaction against temperance. The people were becoming more temperate every year. In 1860 the diibk expenditure per head was 19s Bd, and in 1890 it was only 7s 4d, He thought) the totalisafor the greatest cnrße in the country, and if elected would support any measure to abolish it. (Great applause.) He referred to the surplus cloimed by the Government, which the Opposition, _in pursuance of their policy of not crediting anything good to the Government, said was due to the careful finance of Sir Harry Atkinson. (The speoker quoted figures to show that the Government had been able to show an actual surplus, and expressed the opinion that there would be another surplus when the next Financial Statement was made.) He wished to say a few words to them on Mr Tanner's address. In thab Mr E. Tanner said a public meeting should be called to decide who should staud. Was that a fair proposition ? (Cries of " Yes " and " No," lasting for some minutes.) That only meant allowing tho Conservative party to choose the candidate, and be would nfver agree to it. He was the candidate chosen by the Gov« ernment, and if they believed in the Government they should vote for him, (Cries of "Yes," "No," and applause.) To vote for Mr Tanner would be equivalent) to throwing the vote in tho sea. (Cries of "No " and oonnter demoDstrations.) He thought the contest ought to he left to him and Captain Russell, so that the electors could choose between two parties. Captain Russell was against the principle of one-man-one-vote, (A voice: "Less Captain Russell and more politics.") He only mentioned Captain Russell because he asked to be elected on personal grounds. He was sure that if the electors wet c tiehooioft representative on the tcore of programmes put forward, he (Mr Reunion) would be returned by the largest majori'y of any candidate in the colony. (Langhter, applause, and connter demonstrations, during which Mr Reardou resnmed his seat.) Mr P. Corbe'6 asked if Mr Reardon would support a vote to Roman C itholics for educational purposes. Mr Reardon said be would not reply to the question in that form. He would not promise to vote for a subsidy to any one denomination, but he would say thai he would vote for the Private Schools Bill. He believed both bis opponents held the same view. Mr Popplewell, who met with ft mixed reception, asked if the candidate would fupport a bill for the inspection of shearerb' accommodation duiing the sheaiiag season. Mr Reardon said be would. In reply to the same questioner Mr Reardon thought it would be much better if hotels were nod owned by brewers or by representatives of wine and spirit merchants. At this stage there was a lull in the proceedings, and the chairman came forward and said If there were no more questions, and if there were no resolutions to propose, he would close the meeting, After an interval Mr T. Donovan said that he was a Havelock man, bnt as no Hastings man appeared willing to make a move be would move a vote of thanks and confidence. Mr R. Webb seconded the motion. When it wos put it was met with loud wies of " Aye " and •• No." The Chairman said the " ayes " had it, and there were cries of "Show of hands." The Chairman challenged them to question bis ruling, and again said that the "aye?" had it, nnd the meetiDg broke up with cries of "Three cheerß for Tanner" and "Three cheers for Rear* don,"