POLITICAL POINTS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXXIII, Issue 274, 5 December 1899, Page 2

POLITICAL POINTS.

TO BE PONDERED BY

TO-MORROW.

Mr John Graham, now Ministerial ortndidato for Nelson, in 1803, in his eleo'.ion address, said :—

" I do not approved surprise legisli tion of a revolutionary characte-.

lam n,t, hay not been asked, and would decline lo become the nominee of any particular section to endeavour to force measures into legislation against the will of the maj rity.

I would earnestly assist in promoting soi ml and general legislation of a democratic character, gradually (whon sore, quired to prevent dislocation), constitutionally and peacefully, as questions te come ripe and accepts le to the majority of the people, and prepared fur j n (bo minds of nil.

I am strongly opposed to any further raising qf loans by the Colony and the necessar ly consequent incrsase of taxation, which I <ni convinced c*n be avoided by reasonable and careful management.

As soon as possible, / should advocate relief from taxation by reduction of Custom.? duty upon articles of necessary daily consumption by the mass of the people.

Ytt, after wooing anl winning the votes of Nelson by these solemn promises he is now a pledged follower of the Bras' He defends wholesale boirowiug aod extravagauce, and upholds apolioy which ■mngs from the people more Customs revenue than any colony in A.ustra au'a * • *

,_ Here is more testimony that men in the public service have removed their names from the electoral rolls of the colony because they were too honest to be mere creatures of Seddonism, and yet feared persecution : —

" We know it to be true" (says the Wei- 1 lington " Post ") " that even here in this city there are men in the service of the I colony who, having enough of self-respect to refuse to pledge their votes to the touts and agents of the party in power, have abstained from voting, disfranchised themselves in fact, because they fared to exercise their rights as citizens and free men. What then must be the feeling among the many public servants —as m the Railway, Post and Telegraph, Police, and other departments— in the Palmerston electorate who havo been appealed to (ordered is probably the truer word) by the Premier to vote fo** his nominee P " •• • *

The lesson taught by favouritism in the Civil Service as exposed in Nelson and elsewhere : —

The gravity of this tampering with Cml Service regulations will be fully felt throughout ihe colony by parents who, struggling to give their children sufficient education to legally qualify them lor tbe public service, find their efforts worse than usel.Baand their children's prospects blighted through this abominable system of political favouritism and evasion of the ! law. » » » At Mr Graham'a Erst political maeting in tbis campaign he offered Nelaon a bribe and a veilct threat -tho harbour. There was a ho wl of indignation— and Mr Graham has not alluded to the harbour at his meetings for nearly a fortnight tal last evening. Why? I 3 the bribe rene wed ? * * • The poli. ical atmosphere of New Zealand has been completely changed since tho introduction of the worst features of i'anmiany Hall, observe* ' Britannious " in the "New Zealand HeralJ." Our politics have been degraded until it is no longer pissiblo for men who call themselves Ministerialists to exercise any independent j a lament without being ignomiuiously expelled from the ranks of the Government party. Th^y mutt bow strviloly to the political Boss, or to be kicked from ti s piesunce. — M.

.' Constitutionally, the Premier and his colleagues un: responsible to Purliament, totherepres6nn.ti,c3of the people ; but what has been the treatment mtted out to Parliament hy Mr Seddon ? He has BteaJily, bnt surely robbed .t of its powers, aud Biibslituied in its pi ice, whenever possible, the i ovornor-in-Council. The Governor-in-:ounoil is simply the Cabinet, and tha Cabinet during the past Bir yean, has meant Mr Seidon himself. Thus in Act after Act the Pi em it r has drive.* his dependent majo:ity to br.nd orer to the discretion of Ministers powers that sho,.lu havo b en retained by the people's representative?." * # .

Mr John Hntcheson (who ; s all that is best of the typical Labour Leader of <he stamp of John Burns and other heroes or thegreitLibonr Movement in England) said rec ntly at Wellington :— " 1 have joined in tnjj election men who are determined to have straight bnsiness." Ho was a Government man, nominated by the Government, and helped to his seat by the Government till he found that there was no "straight business," but only "crooked business." Then Seddonism, like its protot-pe Tammanyism, did its best to honnd him out of politics as it had hounded Mr Earnsh j.w- -but without avarl.

What Canterbury women think of Seddonism .—At a meeting convened for the lady supporters of a Government candidal m one of tbe populous ilectorUes of Canterbury recently, only fiveat'ended, where nt least fifty were expected. The candidate and his best men were present, but it was not thought advisable to go through tbe rolls. The paucity of the attendance showed that the woman voters who did not attend are equally as anxious as lheir male friends to see a change in the Administration. * * »

All the tirao tho Premier's heart bleeds for tho people. Indeed, it bleeds so much that ho is spending thousands of thoir money in electioneering picnics, in special trains, and tho Government steamer Tutanekai takes him nil up tho East Coa3t as far ns the Bay of Plenty, -..hero he is to tell tho people how much tho Liberal Ministry loves them. He is fighting tho election with the taxpayers' money.— ■" Hawke's Bay Herald." * » *

Under tho eld tariff (1890), the revenue from all sources was £i, 193,942, in 1898---99 the Customs revenue was £1,961,726, and thi revenue from oil sources was £5,258,228. It will bee seen that the increase was obtained almost solely from the Custom-. Jn the meantime tho public expenditure (exclusive of loan expenditure) increased from £4,081 ,666 in 1890-91 to £4,858,811 in 1898-99, or by £776,845, and the indebtedness of the colony increased f ™* £38,844,914 in 1891 to £46,938,006 in 1899. Tlie intere-t charge on this debt now stands at £ 1 ,787,272 per annum and the whole nmount of thi sinkine fnnd supposed to have been oreated by the tariff of 1898, and to be maintained and increased by a self-reliant and nonborrowing Government, is at present only £857,279. y » * *

Though the people were supposed to economise and pay their debts the public expenditure has increased from £6 10s lid per head in 1890-91 to £6 lis 4d per head in 1898-99. Meantime, while the public debt had increased from £61 6s 3d per head in 1891 to £62 13s lid per head in 1899, or by £1 13s 8d per head, the total trade showed an actual decrease from £25 10* 4d in 1890 to £25 9s 4d in 1898— only a shilling a head, but on the wrong side of the ledger. # # # Some facts for taxed fathers and mothers : — Population of New Zealand 743,463 Population of N.S. Wales 1,316,240 Customs revenue of N.Z. (1898) £1,961,726 Customs revenue of N.S.W., (1898) £1,250,285 Last year New Zealand raised from Customs taxation in aotnal amount more Cuslmns revenue than any other colony in A uslralasia, the next highest being the lypieal protectionist! province of Victoria, £1,908,051.

The Seddon sun is setting. The Premier is fighting a foilorn hope for personal power at the country's expense, but there can be only one ending to the fight— a well-earned rest In the cold sh des of Opposition, • The par'.y thai is coming into power U strong, vigorous, aad progressive'

pledged ta sound, jrore admlnistratiad, and determine i ti proxote Ibe beat in•ereste of all classes of people.—" Wanganni Chronicle." • • •

As lllnstratiog what the effect of tho Customs t»riff was, Mr Arnold, MinisleruUoandidatc at Dunedin, readout a erocery bill comprising a number of the articles in mosi popular everyday nse. The total came to 9s 6d, and of ibis sum 3s 91 went in taxation. If a women in ihe oommuniy were to r*alisS what was being d ne they would vote, and try and induce their male iriandt to vote, only for candidates who wonld try to have the Customs levet.ue revi 01. But the side he had presented was not the wo«t side. He affirmed that the man who conld least afford to pay ths taxation had io pay the greater pan 0 f it, beoanse the poor mv. who could buy ea only, say, a* ls 61 a pound,- pail .x*etly the same amount in duty as his richer brother who bought U.\ at 3s, anl the same thing applied to almost cv* ry article tbat could be termed a necessary of life.

The people of New Zealand have before them at the present juncture a momentous issue. A great constitutional question, fraught with serious consequences for good or evil, is to be decided at the ballot boxes to-morrow. Here in New Zealand we have carried democratic government to its logical extreme and made the electorate coincident with the adult population of the country. The question is whether our democracy will prove under this supreme test its ability to choose honourable and efficient rulers, its desire to place pure government and the welfare of the community above personal and sectional aims. For more than six years we have had a Government that has deliberately outraged all the principles of freedom and ruthlessly undermined the safeguards of the Constitution. These destructive operations have been carried out under cover of a professed aeal for the interests of the people. Wm the electors be able to DISTINGUISH TKE FALSE FBOM THE TRUE, TO PIERCE THE CLOAK OF LIBERALISM, ANB SEE THE DEBPOTISM BEHIND IT? We trust, in the interests of democracy, that they wiU.

On Sunday a church parade was held at the Volunteer Camp, Wakefield, in Mr Jce Baigem's beautiful grounds, the knights of the forest affording a most graceful shado. ihe Rev. Mr Baker (chaplain) preached an eloqueLt sermm Irom the text " Thero was no small stir among the soldier.-," the pr*yers beiog read by the Key. C. W. Jennings. Some hymns were sung, and the whole service was ectered into heartil> by volunteer and publio, the attendance being large.

A " camp eonocnr" will be given at the Porb Publio Uall thiß ovening at half-past seven o'c'ock. After the coucoit there will te a fairy well and refreshment stall. The proceeds ore to be devoted to tbe annual treat for ihe children attending the Port Sunday school As tbe entertainment id nf a novel description, there -fehould be a good attendance.

Mr Graham Moore, the examiner of the Associated board B.A.M and R.C.M., London, held tho practical part of the Br>aru's examination in Nelson yesterday and to-day. Twenty one candidates presentep themselves, and of these fifteen passed. Miss W, T. Moore, MissE. Kempthorne, and Miss L. Gibbs all passed the Looal Centre elimination iv pianoforte, Miss N. Shone in violin, Mis* A. Harley and Miss I. Leggatt iv singing. In the school examination Higher Division Misses R. Ferguson, A. Hewetaon, E. Faulkner, and E. Ledger passed. In the Lower Division the successful candidates were : Misses M. Robinson, M. Waters, L. Harris, and D. Knapp.

. The Nelson Rifles will go into camp at the Botanical Reserve on Saturday evening next. Dr Andrew has been elected Surgeon-Captain of the corps, vice Dr Hudson resigned. Mr. Kirkpatrick has promised a, consignment of jam for the camp. It has been decided that a rifle belonging to the company be shot for on a handicap aggregate.

The Taranaki Cricket Association will probably send a team to Nelson at Christmastime. The Marlborough Association willbe asked to defer its trip in consequence of the Taranaki fixture.

A slight shock of earthquake was felt in Nelson and elsewhere at about 7.20 last evening.

Mr Swan has been elected Mayor of Napier for the fifteenth time in succession. Mr J. McKenzie, Minister for Lands, has been elected for Waihemo unopposed.

To-morrow at 2.30, Messrs Bisley Bros, and Co. will conduct their usual weekly live stock sale at the Railway sale Yards, when a number of cattle, horses, and crossbred sheep will be offered.