Mr. Vernon Reed in Mangonui.

Northland Age, Volume V, Issue 7, 5 October 1908, Page 4

Mr. Vernon Reed in Mangonui.

Pledged to the Freehold, Government Assistance to Settlers. Roads and Railways. . There w «e between eighty and ninety, including many ladies, in McKay’s hall on Thursday evening to listen to the address of the selected Government candidate who made an interesting speech extending over some two hours. Mr. W. T. Lutener, on the motion of Mr. Daly seconded by Mr. F. Maugham, occupied the chair and briefly and humorously introduced the speaker of the evening. Mr, Reed said that he could not hope to say all he would wish but he would his political ideas and his attitude iu this election campaign before his hearers. . All were aware of the circumstances of his candidature. He had been a strong supporter of Mr. Houston, the present Member, for the last nine years and on that gentlemen’s retirement from politics after having done yeoman’s service for the electorate—it was only right that the people should show their gratitude to their old Member for what he had done, especially for the Mangonui County though quite as much for the whole electorate. To this end, in connection with Mr. W. J. Harris and others he (Mr. Reed) had worked in the direction of a testimonial to Mr, Houston and felt sure that a good purse of sovereigns would result. Though the list was not yet in circulation £IOO had already been promised and £3OO should easily be raised but as the interest taken by himself in the matter might come to be looked upon as a political move the speaker had withdrawn from active co-operative in the movement. But it was not only- by the people that Mr. Houston’s services should ho recognised for he should be called to the Upper House and in this connection the position of tho Government should not lie misunderstood. It was Sir Joseph Ward’s intention to call Mr. Houston to the upper chamber but no sitting Member could be so called, and it was impossible for the Government to make a definite promise or publicly- to declare its intention, though he knew perfectly well that this was Sir Joseph Ward’s wish, and silence on the matter meant nothing but that the government could not appropriately- announce it. Referring to rumours circulated in the township and elsewhere that his meetings had not been the successes which were reported in the papers, Mr. Reed remarked that such rumours were spread abroad solely with the purpose of taking votes from him. They- were entirely untrue and in his own townsnip, to which reference had been specially made, he had had one of the most successful political meetings possible, fully two hundred being presentand anunanimousvote of confidence being passed. It was very unfair to spread such rumours but the ballot box would give the true position and the speaker felt assured of the support of his own township. In his candidature he “had only the most friendly feeling toward his oponeuts and would allow no personal feeling to enter into the contest and trusted that supporters of any side would be fair and not misrepresent facts. All would be able to examine the requisition to the Premier and would he able to see that people of all classes and opinions had asked for the speaker’s nomination by the Premier, but some had been saying in Mangonui, as at Hukerenui, that some of these names were bogus. This could not he true as he (Mr. Reed) wonld be liable to an action for damages for publishing the names of persons who had not signed the requisition and it was impossible to doubt that those who signed would consent to the publication of their names unless they intended to support the candidate. The nomination of the Government, in reply, could not be over-estimated; it was an honour but it was more, for the Government were going back to power and ail sides agreed that all the Opposition could hope for was a reduction of the present large majority. It was said by the Opposition that the present Government was not in sympathy with the settlers, but the Government Advances to Settlers Act refuted this. Prior to this Act the interest on mortgages had been exorbitant, as much as ten per cent, on small loans and eight per cent, on loans up to £2OOO being imposed. In one case a man had had to pay ten per cent, for £ISOO on good security before the passing of the Act which mortgage he had afterwards been able to transfer to the Government at four and a half per cent. Under this Act loans wore made of from £25 to £3,000 (now increased to £6000) at four and a half per cent. It was the most beneficial enactment of any Parliament in the world. By its means a settler could become a landed owner though he had not twopence. Iu many instances settlers had leased land from private persons and by improving it had been able to borrow the money to buy the freehold, to the full value, from the Government, giving, perhapß, an adjoining section in added security. At present 24,000 people had taken advantage of the Act and eight millions of pounds had been borrowed under it; and to show the class of persons thus benefitting the amount of the loans averaged £34S. Under it too one per cent, per annum over and above the interest liquidated the mortgage in 33 years. And yet the Opposition would persist in saying that the Government was out of sympathy with the settlors. This though tho Advances to Settlers Act was an Act of the present Government, introduced by Sir Joseph Ward and fought for by him against Mr. Massey and the Opposition party who, had they had their will, would not have permitted the Act to be put on the Statute book. Au Act winch to-day was being copied in the Commonwealth. Not only the Advances to Settlers Act but many other enactments of the present Government, said Mr. Reed, proved how much was being done for the settlers. He instanced the Stock Act, preventing the spread of diseases amongst cattle; the Bush and Swamp Act, giving exemptionßfromratesaudrentto enable the settlerto retain hiscashforthe purpose ofputting it into improvements ; and the Dairy Industry Act. These aud fostering of the frozen meet trade, the grading of butter and the supervision of the home markets had all been for the advancement of the settler,

Not only the settler, but the general public, had to be thankful to the present government for Old Age Pensions which had been strongly opposed by the Opposition; also for the Companies Act Amendment which mado Directors liable for the truth of the statements made in any M prospectus and compelled their invest- V ment of money when they gave their names to a directorate and prevented the gulling of the public by men willing to sell their names for the purpose of floating new companies as in the case ot the Ilooley scandals at Home. And further ensured the truth of the certificates of experts. Another Act for the protection of the Public, the Money Lenders' Act, gave tho Courts the power to review harsh and unconscionable money lending transactions and prevented extortion and the badly fleecing of those who might be hard up and forced to borrow money. The State Fire Insurance, which was opposed by Mr. Massey-, had been for the benefit of the people and had reduced Fire Insurance premiums which were becoming exorbitant and on country properties had lowered this charge to two thirds of the previous rate. Continuing Mr. Reed said that the Opposition were asserting that the government were working toward the nationalisation of the land. He explicitly stated that he was a freeholder and would always remain a freeholder and pledged himself to stand by the freehold independent of party ; whether a Bill were introduced by the Ministry or by a private Member he would pledge himself to support only the freehold. And this pledge he (Mr. Reed) gave because the Opposition said that any Member of the Government party would be compelled to assist in taking away the freehold. But he, the speaker, was satisfied that he would never be called upon to redeem his pledge because there was nothing to show that the Government wished to nationalise the land, The Premier had stated at Kohukohu that he (the Premier) was a freeholder and as long as he was Premier there would be no bill brought into the House for the purpose of taking away the freehold. Aud, said Mr. Reed, it did not matter what the whole of the Ministers desired, if the Premier were against the course it could not be carried out, the policy- of the Premier being the policy of the Ministry. Unfortunately most of the settlers had not read the Land Act for themselves and they listened to what they were told. The Opposition said it was the thin end of the wedge toward Land Nationalisation, but referring to a remark made by tho Premier there were only two ways of Land Nationalisation, confiscation of purchase; the latter would cost the Dominion seventy-seven millions of pounds aud was therefore in itself an absurdity while confiscation could not be thought of as a possibility. And if Land Nationalisation bad been the idea in the Land Act the Act wonld not contain as it does the right to those holding land on Lease in Perpetuity to acquire the freehold, and all that a man holding land under Lease in Perpetuity had to do was to pay for the unimproved value of the laud. Id his, the speaker’s, idea the holder of a Lease in Perpetuity should have the option of buying his freehold at the unimproved value or be entitled to the freehold on payment of the difference of the percentage between the rate he had to pay the government for his lease and that which he would have had to pay had the lease been one containing the option of purchase. But if the Government is Baid to be intent on Land Nationalisation further proof against is offered every day in the posters outside the various Post Offices offering land on L.1.P., 0.R.P., or Cash terms. The Endowments were also referred to as the thin end of the wedge for Land Nationalisation, but the scheme was not a creation of the Government, for Educational endowments had been in force for years and the new endowments were only to inorease the old education endowments and to provide monies for Old Age Pensions. It had been argued by the Opposition that Mr. Fowlds as a member of the Ministry, a single taxer, caused the Cabinet to be tainted by Land Nationalisation, but where the six or eight strongest and most capable men out of sixty-five wore collected together it would be impossible for them .to have identically the same ideas and views, and there must always be some with extreme views and these must be dropped for the good of the general policy of the Ministry which must be that of the Premier. And ■this outcry by the Opposition was only ail attempt to fool the electors, for if the Opposition were in power to-morrow they could not keep Mr. Aickin, a confirmed leaseholder and believer only in leasehold tenure, out of their Ministry. So as to prevent disappointment in obtaining land the Government had inserted a clause in the Land Act grading the applicants and giving preference to the landless, to married men with fainilms and those who would make most suitable settlers, so that anyone seeking land might rest assured that he would not long have to remain landless. There had been a limit set on the quantity of v- n o d oim hK /; eM , , Lj ', an >' one and ioO.OOO worth of laud was surely enough for any one individual. Aud the Crown tenants had now been given representation 011 the Crown Lands Board Mr Trounson at present being the member for the northern settlers. The present government and the Premier more particularly had the interests of the settlers at heart and were ever ready to assist them. They had found grass seed for them when the bush fires ravaged the land and assisted wherever they could in ways which the settlers hardly realised. The Premier is introducing a scheme for the purpose of enabling the acquirement of land by those who have no money ; an extension of the Lands for Settlement Act whereby a number of settlers might join together and buy up a large estate at a reasonable price and the Government would put these men on the land and take m exchange a mortgage of it. This good scheme was one which he (the speaker) would do his best, if returned to Parliament, to get extended to Maori lands and it should prove valuable in assisting the settlement of Native lands. The settlement of the Native lands being one of the greateslUSquestions must be fought for strenuously, for the Dominion could not expect to take its proper place in the world so long as there was idle land. The speaker had his ojvn ideas on the question but thought it better to follow the scheme in existence, not more than one half of the Members of the House caring one jot about the matter. It was therefore an uphill fight to meet the difficulties wising

but he felt inclined to support the Native Lands Commission and its recommendations, if taken in hand, should be success-, ful. Unfortunately the work of the Commission was hampered by so much of the land being of unknown ownership. The present procedure of ascertaining the ownership of Maori land should be altered. There were three Courts; first the Block Commission which should Stand, as it meant determination of ownership from the Maori standpoint; second the Maori Land Board presided over by a Judge, which examined all witnesses and had every facility for deciding the ownership, and should stand; and third the Appeal Court which should be abolished, as the Maoris would always appeal and this Court had nothing before it and was at a disadvantage; and had sent back for rehearing (meaning five years of delay probably) one case just because the heading to a piece of blue paper was wrong. When Mr. Martin, the Opposition Organiser, had been travelling on his mission through the electorate he, Mr. Reed, had heard nim in Kawakawa. The text of Mr. Martin's speech had been the rotten administration of the present government, and advocating that the Opposition Bhould be put into power to secure pure administration. Mr. Martin had enlarged on this but it was peculiar that though the present government had been in power for eighteen years Mr. Martin could not put his finger upon one single aet of corruption wherewith to add point to his tale. The Opposition Organiser had spoken of certain figures pointing to rotten railway administration and had said that the country was losing £600,000 per annum which was ascribing to the Government a loss of fully ten million pounds in this alone and was absurd and ridiculons, and such results could only he arrived at by the Opposition Organiser and a specially paid Accountant for that very purpose. Mr. Martin had also stated that every J.P., Magistrate and Supreme Court Judge had contributed pro rata, according to his position, to the funds of the party yet he, Mr. Reed, had not yet met one J.P. in the Bay of Islands electorate who bad contributed to the party's funds; if such contributing to the party’s funds had been there could not have been any expectation of justice or purity in the Courts. The whole contention on the face of it was absurd. The Opposition had Baid that were they returned to power they would not repeal one single Act of the present Government | that they would continue the settlement policy, which meant that they would take lands for closer settlement from their chief supporters. The giving of cheap money to the people had been a bitter blow to the bigger financial companies, the friends of the Opposition, and these institutions were tiying to increase the rate of interest by the cry of scarcity of money, the American crisis, and by crying depression, hut the Government were sticking to their guns and still giving cheap money to the people. No supporter of the Opposition would say that it was their intention to reduce the rate of wages hut they said that present day legislation was for one class though this latter was entirely false. True the rate of wages had increased but the rest of the community—other than wage earners—had not suffered. The Opposition had Btated that if the wages were as before the necessaries of life would he cheaper hut the chief necessaries of life were not affected by the rate of wages. The cost of meat, flour, oatmeal, bread, milk, all dairy produce, etc., which New Zealand exports is ruled by the Home markets and the prices in England, less the cost of transit, and the farmer could not be expected to take less for bis produce if the rate of wages were reduoed. It waß sufficient to ask the local storekeepers whether prices had advanced. In some cases the cost might he slightly larger but only on articles of clothing had prices advanced and this advance was estimated, from the collected statements before Commissions and Arbitration Courts, at only sixpence in the pound. It was untrue to say that prices bad greatly advanced, and the higher wages were benefiting the settler and the people by giving them better and more satisfactory markets for their goods. The Premier’s visit to the North was the first thorough examination by a Minuter and Sir Joseph Ward had gone back to Wellington with a grasp of the conditions which no other Minister had ever attained. The Premier had seen for hinuelf that the chief cause of stagnation was isolation; the want of roads ; and that we could not expect progress without better communication. Mr. Reed considered that railway communication waa essential but the markets for our products were still more limited until our roads were placed in satisfactory condition. A railway in the North might seem an idea realisable at the millenium but it could be managed if only the people would fight for it. The OpuaWbangarei line should be put through in the course of the next eighteen months and wbat is then wanted is an extension of the North Auckland railway and final extension into the Mangonui County. There are forty miles of the North Auckland extension to build through Maungatoroto for which £BO,OOO is on the Estimates and a further £IO,OOO toward linking up Kawakawa and Whangarei, this bringing railway communication withhin fifty miles of Mangonui if the road through Kaeo and the Black Bridge, which the speaker had advocated for years, were made. This should give a good mail thrice a week and be a boon to passengers who should have a very low railway fare to pay in connection with the marl coach service. The benefit to the whole electorate could hardly he estimated, as the reason Southern settlers would not come North was because of the difficulty of getting about. A railway in the Bay of Islands, within fifty miles of Mangonui, would cause enormous progress and the land values must go up. He (Mr. Reed) bad great confidence in the North ; there was good land in it and the land only wanted working and its products to be within easy reach of rail communication and markets. Here land was being cropped which would not be looked st in the Waikato and only isolation kept the country back. It was hardly worth while raising “beef” when more than half of the cattle went hack into “stores” before they could reach the market, hut with railway communication would come a freezing works ■nd a good market for fat stock. As to Public Works Sir Joseph Ward had promised, when in the North, to ask Parliament for a million pounds for back hlocks roads but though the total vote in fhe Mangonui County was good the allo-

cation appeared to be most unsatisfactory. For this the Government should not he blamed ; the Ministry might see that the electorate got its fair share of money but Ministers could not be expected to know every road throughout the electorate. In the past, thanks to the able action of Mr. Houston, the district had had more than its fair share of money for public works and last year £40,000 had been voted when its just share should have been £17,t)00. To some extent the electors had been spoilt in the past, so much so that now they bad a grievance if they were not quite so well used. Personally the speaker was in favor of the Government taking over the main arterial roads where there wero no railways. It was the duty of the Government to keep the roads open to the ports and if returned to Parliament he would do his utmost to get the Government to see the matter in the same light as himself. Mr. Reed said that he was in favor of the Government experimenting with the lands they hold. People believed that much of the land was useless but in his opinion much of tho poor land could carry grass if properly worked. The Government should experiment with this poor land and once the settler was shown that grasses would grow he would soon sow them for himself. It was the first duty of the Government to assist the back block settlers ; much more than is done at present. The speaker did not believe in putting settlers on totally unimproved land. The Government should clear and grass say ten chains from the road; it should not do the work itself but subsidise the settler and pay him for the work and charge it to the section, thus making the land reproductive as soon as possible. In order to carry out a progressive policy it was necessary to borrow money and the National Debt might appear to be a pretty big one but it was as nothing when the assets came to he considered. The New Zealand railways alone could be sold to-morrow for much more than the full amount of the National Debt and altogether with mortgages, etc., there was no need to consider the borrowed monies uneasily as in the course of time the railway revenue alone would repay the whole debt. During the past twelve months the Government had borrowed two millions but had not increased the interest payable by the people by one penny because the whole had gone into reproductive works. If the matter of borrowing were closely gone into it would be seen that the country could not have a progressive policy without borrowing. Mr. Massey had said that “if the electors of the Colony do not feel inclined to put the brake on it will be a good thing for the Colony if the moneylenders do,” from which it was a simple matter to make the deduction that the Opposition did not believe in a progressive policy and that they would wish to see the money-lenders refuse further loans (thus hampering advancement) which the lenders were certainly not going to do.

In conclusion Mr. Feed would make a personal reference. Ho understood that there was a feeling being created against him because of his being a lawyer. It had been asserted that more than half tho House were lawyers whereas only six or seven of the eighty members were lawyers. If those six or seven lawyers had created more stir than the other Members then the more lawyers returned the better. Besides he thought he had other qualifications. He knew the district and his position and his interests in it were alike well known. As a lawyer when a Bill were circulated he would understand its meaning without having to ask the Member in charge of it for an explanation and unlike many members in the House at present he would know what he was voting upon without having to trust to someone else as to the true meaning. In such case his legal training would stand him in good stead and be of service to his constituents. As County Clerk to the Bay of Islands for ten years Mr. Reed claimed that he had obtained thorough knowledge of local matters and requirements and of the needs of Local Bodies. Also in his professional life he had come to know the settlers, had travelled throughout the whole of the electorate, in fact wherever he went in the North he was going home. As an instance of this Mr. Reed quoted the fact that it was not unusual for him to he told, while on his present tour, when arriving at a hotel to go to the same room as usual; a sufficient indication of his intimate knowledge of the district and one wherein he had a distinct advantage over the other candidates. Finally Mr. Reed said: —“l pledge myself to stand by the freehold irrespective of party and to vote for the freehold on every occasion. I promise to do my utmost to get the Maoii Lands thrown open for settlement, and to forward the settlement of Crown Lands as soon as possible.” Applause partially drowned the concluding words of thanks to the audience for their presence. In reply to questions Mr. Reed said that he had started out as an Independent Opposition candidate nine years ago. Then his platform had been: —(l) The throwing open of Native Lands for settlement, (2) An Elective Legislative Council, (3) Penny Postage, (4) Reduction of the Customs duties on the necessaries of life, (5) Upkeep of the Main Roads by the Government, (6) Encouragement of the Industries of the North, (7) Revaluation of all Crown Lands, (8) Increase of the area of Lands for Settlement in the North, and (9) A loan for the completion of all uncompleted railway lines. With the exception of the elective Legislative Council wherein he had changed his opinion—and every man surely had the right to change an opinion in nine years —the Government had either done or were doing those very things which nine years ago had seemed to him necessary, and therefore his candidature as a Government supporter.

As to the Arbitration Act if it had done no other good than to keep down strikes it had justified its existence. The great Maritime strike had shaken the trade of the Colonies and the mark of it was yet to he seen on the Newcastle coal trade. Unfortunately the Act had proved weak in that it was not compulsory. He (Mr. Reed) was in favour of the resolution passed by the Timber Workers’ Union asking the Premier to make the Act compulsory, and this was in the true interests of the Dominion. He would do his best to make the Act more perfect in order, above all, to keep down strikes. Regarding the naturalisation of Austrians as he understood that naturalised Austrians could go back to their own country under no disability and as some of the naturalisation papers had been

taken out as a trick for the exploitation of the gumfields these particular foreigners needed special watching before being given letters of naturalisation. Of course genuine settlers should be encouraged but ho was opposed to any foreigners carrying away the spoils of the land. As to Local Option Mr. Reed believed in the three-fuThswmajority because if No-license were so* "carried it came to stay. The arrangement prevented chopping and changing about and gave some security for those who had capital legally invested in the trade or who were making their living from it. There should be some protection for those whose livelihood was involved for there was no question of compensation and No-license meant confiscation. The leaders of both parties were at one on the matter and large numbers of No-license followers agreed with the speaker. Mr. M. May proposed and Mr. T. Wallen seconded a proposal of confidence in the Government and Mr. Reed as the future Member for the Constituency, combined with thanks for the address. Mr. Hemy proposed and Mr. Campbell secouded as an amendment that a vote of thanks be tendered. The amendment and original motion were both put to the meeting the chairman declaring, as was easily apparent, that the vote of thanks and confidence was carried on the voices. A vote of thanks to the chair, carried by acclamation, closed the meeting.