ELECTION NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8423, 26 November 1890, Page 5

ELECTION NEWS.

" MB. T. THOMPSON AT ST. JAMES MIL A ' HALL. . Sb, James' Hall, last night, Mr. Thoa. Thompson addre3eed the City electors for the first time. There was a good attendee, Mr. J. J* Holland was voted to the hair and tnado a few introductory relark's pointing out that Mr. Thompson now a tried representative, and had (Hied various public positions very satisfactorily* ' Kill GEORGE ORKY. Mr. Thompson opened by referring to the retirement of Sir George Grey, lie s jure every one of them would regret ually with him the necessity which had (risen for ' ie retirement of Sir (ieorge Grey from public life. (Applause.) lie hud been one of the foremost figure* in colonial history. Had health permitted, ho would i, where each and every one of them would wish to see him—at the head of the poll, (Applause.) r the labour electoral committee. Mr. Thompson then alluded to the renue'stiof the United Labour Electoral Compitteo, that he should meet them and state his views. This ho had refused to do, holding that the proper place to state his v i eWa was from the public platform, boforo : the electors. jUK COLONY'S TKOtJtILESAXD THE REMEDIES. Referring to the condition of the colony he gaid it was sufficient to say that thoy wore heavily indebted; that the loan money would soon bo all expended, and that their difficulty was to make their expenditure balance thoir income. Ho was opposed to farther borrowing as a way out of the diffi- ; culty. He held that drastic retrenchment, 1 economy, and keeping clear entirely of ' , further borrowing were the means which : would lead to further prosperity. They 1 could also help to mako the country pros- , perous by altering the incidence of taxation 'was to induce people to coma and settle 1 here. ' THE PROPERTY TAX. ' With regard to the question of taxation, it ! was well known that he had been from the 1 first opposed to the property tax. (Ap 1 plans©.) On every possible occasion when J that question had been brought up on a l direct issue ho had voted .against the pro- ' perty tax. _ (Applause.) He was always 1 apposed to it as a tax on industry, and he J could not understand for the life of him 1 why the farmers were so opposed to the t (and tax. Under the property tax, they v were taxed on their land and also on thoir 0 improvements, whereas under the land tax r their improvements would bo exempted, c they would have less to pay than under 1 : [he property tax. Ho referred to Hansard 13 to snow his conduct in regard to the pro- " perty tax, and quoted from his speeches in t the House on the subject. . 11 IX FAVOUR OF A LAND AND INCOME TAX. C He believed that a land tax, and if need bo a graduated land tax, was what they required. (Applause.) He did not believe M bursting up the large estates, but thought that a fair land tax would induce holders of luge estates to sell their lands to those who would make good use of them. (Applause.) He was firmly of opinion that a land tax, together with a judiciously imposed income tax. would bring in sufficient revenue to meet all requirements. . He proceeded to quote figures showing the evils of absenteeism. Forty-three absentees' owned ; 1,027,399 acres of land, worth £1,635,289. A judiciously imposed land tax would coniHerably abate that evil. (Applause.) Bf FAVOUR OF TAXING THE BONDHOLDERS. lis inclinations and sympathies were en4'fly m favour of taxing the bondholders, ,•?(! vided they could doit legally and honestly, i \|.plauße.) If the colony had entered into V:yeho ; agemeiit to pay the interest without iluctioo, tken taxing the bondholders V.'fild be repudiation, and he would not suyoorb it. (Applause.) But if there was > -.<ich engagement, and it could be legally he was in favour of making persons Vij derived an income from the colony {jtfibute to the taxation and good go- . foment of tie colony. (Applause.)

1 lAN J) SETTLEMENT. r j regard Co land settlement, their ■ •fsentland regulations, due to the present f 4 tho lute Minister of Lands, were very -.beral. The village settlement , scheme i»d been an unqualified success wherever (ho settlers had been placed on pood land, ;-d be thought further steps should bo t*ken in this direction, provided good land Wclji»eo. From returns placed before the House, it was shown that the perpetual : itjsosystem was the most popular tenure. Ha was glad of this, as he agreed with those who held that they should not sell for (MB any more lands of the colony. (Ap?lms6.) He touched on some minor points in the land laws requiring amendment. He lioaghb there should be a system of free (election, without either sales by auction or jsllot. He also held that persons holding Surge blocks of land should bo debarred from acquiring any more, as they could at present, (Applause.)

'^/V,E -< "A HANK TORY." Ho had been accused of being a rank Tory. Is disproof of this, he had voted for Sir tjMrge Grey's' Fair Rent Bill, and the Electors' Land Ke-valuation Bill. (Ap?lattte.};'He had also voted for Sir George ,jre y'< Eight Hours Bill. That was hardly «action of a rank Tory. He had also Wiped _to pass the one man one vote wise in the Electoral Amendment; Bill. (Applause.)

33 WHir UK SUPPORTED TIIE GOVERNMENT, Weiring to the accusation that ho had Sported the Atkinson Government, he /tpmined that he had been elected to opW the Stout-Vojjel Government, and 'W<i various reasons why he and the other Auckland members had supported the profit Ministry in preference to tho Opposireserving their right to vote against the Property tax. Mr. Thompson then referred to this last session, and the waste of time •won had taken place. This great waste " time had <j>ono on session after session, «as compared with altering tho rules of procedure, he thought tho waste of time "'raiser ovil. Any attempt to restrict the IJMof free speech on the part of any repntiUivo of the people would be injuoaa, (Applause.) He proceeded to give Recount, of the efforts made by tho Auckmembers last session to get a reduciin tno Estimates. Had the Opposition ' pported the little band of " skinflints," V could have made very large reducit Mi 1 but the Opposition were not sincere »n!? ei s U iT or retrenchment, and as a Li,. they had only effected a redue®n°f £45,000. These were some of the w t DS T yho had given conditional sup0D to . 9 present (Government. From the Position they could get no economy, or umJ 10 . or pledge to abolish the

to ' RETRENCHMENT. '•tare re art to retrenchment, he believed ittron^L 8 s ' , 'll room for very considerable , 0 chmant. (Applause.) The civil seriink classifying, air ft ho did not >... Satisfactory conclusion could fid in/ 5 , a t '". the whole matter was SjtsU.f? o an '"'-Impendent commission »aj dnn " e Government. (Applause.) If that jikj.. ols COnf, idenih))o reductions could he 1« k Y ll i f, ' amation offices. (Applause.) S»ti V ft n a( * VoCiJ ted the wiping out of the Public Jp a £ traent B >* years ago; and the 'folisW °5 ? eur tment could also bo loin "''"la end of this year, when the *«, nnf " 8 ? would be all expended. He Hon in 0 • ,reire d to say how much redueWu _ IK Jlture could be made, but ho Nation • *' <) allow of a reduction of Auje,) ln tll(J very " cur future. (Ap-

Ha w • , ,JKFKN'CKin theip Bv ?. a vei 'y extravagant item Stout R ! tur °s but ho did not blame v ,Ce d on m? Ministry for this, as it was ° w iUnl<, .i d .''"l' the Russian scare. Heir forts ?i y ke|)t °" pending money ®Wlievf,i ! y would become useless. 'Sbrd to It' vever , that they could not thouffU ' ),lco w '' l modern science, ,7 K ' lou i ( i rely on the tor°Ppoßefi »i. an English cruisers. He had Syinthi " f' em P t to establish a standing i%P*idv°i lly ' ' ,l t ' )0 * orm of ft par*r*Wtni ' tßor force - lt would only 0 increased expenditure. 'Oflobinj, n .. edu catjoh. the Vo ?, nt ' 10 education question, he Ny Inn,! « fcl " 8 Purpose, JC.'HH ,000, was Son th; M °' ' always held strong r /(iiul nm kter. He believed in free, u*^)Hnl,,7. ripul! ' or .v education. (A>2S«iiimH ul V!i y*°PPOsed any approach ?"® l >i--(hc.,„ ORa0 Ra ' education in their State tMi 001,,. A .? lr, d also Bible-reading Jot© ti,,. Bor '"eduction in the educa;rj® Mi# v erv i |Hl ''; y branch of the system S)'BuJ '"t they Should touch. (Ap. 19 <*Uenrli»' 0 °"i ecte d to fcll ° very gg| ture on ' secondary odu-

£sS&i!&£« ■»« » He thought one UnivSvCofl? PlaUS °- 1 quite enough for th« «f 7 College was plause)and ho won M rl' colony~(apof the secondary educatio n o i°f 60 fcl,e who ' e into one '• pot " and Cafc,o £ endowments put apart for Llmlarahips ß^'o^"^ ol '" o " children showing S'tv ™,?IVT Umn opportunity of fiirrlio would have an hoar, andapplLsel H« Catlon - (Hear ' to the ,cK .ul 1; W,W not °PP o3ed years, but was against ft b!!^ 1 to . ' si * to seven. He would nnf ri "*> rawed standards reduced, but though? theymiSfb &: , ;fV4xr 1 1 d °l b ' B b r S P mTOt°)°i25 th L C 1 ° 1 °| ny ( , co " nti, >™thoom°m".' whereas tho hefui fo,> e » ct > scholar, per head pnmary Byßtcm °»»y ««t £4 . . , THE Railways. Coming to the railways, ho was not in favour of selling them, and lVwas still £ (Applause 1 Hi'" ° m ° hllvln B' « trial. I Applause.) Ho was not satisfied with the ' oners h ? n ** over to the Comraw- • -ioueis. Ihe primary object of their rail M??* I TnS i, } the '" e nt of the country, and '!° for usa as a taxingSnei°tof ( fi PPla -, Se - ) Th ° l )reHenfc '»"»• agement of the railways was very unsatisfactory and ho advised his hearers to refer to tl*e last number of Hansard of the prethimHn 1 ™ ' where they, would find somerailwftv legaid to th management of the railway stores, which was in the highest degiee disgraceful. He was opposed to sell mg the railways, as it would create a monopoly, and if they did so there would simply be such a scramble for the purchase money that they would have lost their railways and still have their debt. Stick to their lands, stick to their railways, and alter the incidence of taxation by imposing a land and "come tax. This was the best policy they jould follow. (Applause.) TUB I.AIiOUi; TKOUIHjES. Touching on the late labour troubles, ho laid all his sympathies were with the ■vorking men and the unions. He firmly relieved in unionism, but he did not relieve in persecution. Unionists should lot refuse to work alongside noninionists, but should try and make ituonism so attractive that non-union-sta would join them. (Applause). He ield that 115 was utterly foolish to connect themselves with quarrels with which hey had nothing to do. (Applause). New Icaland unions should confine themselves o Now Zealand. He also did not agree dth other unions being called out when ne union struck. The other unions should emain at work earning wages, and they ould then better help the strikers. He roceeded to advocate the establishment of oards of conciliation, which would do away •ith tho necessity for strikes-. He also held lat men should not be called out on strike nless a majority voted in favour of such a aurse. (Applause.) Tin.* unonnvvivn Anmrnv.

Ie was opposed to further borrowing either a the colony or out of it. Borrowing in -he colony had a very catching sound, but f they did go the money would come from mtside all tho same — (applause) — and ;he foreign capitalists would simply get ligher interest, He was in favour, howsver, of short-dated debentures being issued, f money was absolutely needed to buy intive lands for settlement, the amount to 36 recouped from the sale of the land. CONCLUSION". fie concluded by saying that tho three :ardinal planks in his platform were a land md income tax, no more borrowing, and no ncrease of taxation. He had represented ihem to tho best of his ability for the last ;hree years. He had never shirked a vote, md ho had never been absent one hour rom tho House while it was sitting. (Ap)lause.) ire had never falsified one of his hedges, and if they again eleoted him, he vould do his best to serve the colony and Auckland, as he had done in the past. Loud and continued applause.) questions. In reply to questions, Mr. Thompson .aid he would vote for the abolition of Bellamy's. Ho was in favour of removng the public account of the colony o the bank which would give the jest terms to the colony If the Bank >f New Zealand gave better terms ,han any other bank why should they not lave the public account? (Applause, and lear, hear ; arrd voice, "That business.") -!e might say he never held a Bank of New Scaland share in his life, and never did any jusinesa with that bank. (Applause.) lb vould be unfair, without a compensation :lause, to compulsorily close hotels on any day a-hon they were entitled to be opened under ;heir license. (Applause.) He did think it would be a bad plan if charges were made igainst a constable, and he was not satisfied with the decision of the inspector, that he should have the right of appeal to the resident magistrate. (Applause.) A number of other questions on matters connected with the police were also asked and answered in the affirmative. He had voted |

against the franchise being conferred on women—(applause)—but lie would give a vote to those women who had now votes in municipal elections. (Applause.) He would vote for the abolition of the totalizator. (Applause). The next best thing would be to tax it. He was opposed to establishing distilleries. Ho believed in the principle of local option, but thought that as men had been compelled by the licensing committees to build very expensive premises, they should be compensated if the local option vote went in favour of closing the hotels. (Applause.) At tho same time he had no sympathy with tho houses that did not comply with the Licensing Act. (Applause). Ho would support a tax on the oxport of bulk timber, should such an export become very large. He would support a Bill to protect the public against swindlers of any kind—dishonest and swindling stockbrokers included. (Applause.) A State Bank was a very large question, to which he had not devoted enough attention to say whether he would favour it or not. His impression was that it was not yet within tho range of practical politics, He had voted in favour of the Labour Bills, > which were

drafted on iho lines recommended by the Sweating Commission, of which he had

been a member. Mr. H. T. Garratt moved a vote of thanks and confidence in Mr. Thompson. This was seconded by Mr. John Bell, and carried by a very large majority amidst applause, only four voting against the motion. Mr. Thompson returned thanks

for the vote, and on his motion a vote of

thanks was passed to the chairman, after which the meeting terminated.

PA UN ELL.

A very succc&sful gathering of the friends nnd supporters of Mr. J. M. Lennox was held on Monday evening nt the Parnoll Hall, and at f.ho close was adjourned to the Newmarket Hall, to-morrow (Thursday) evening, at half-past seven o'clock.

WA ITEM ATA. Mr. Monk addressed a largo meeting in the Kaukapakapa Hall on Friday evening last. On the motion of Mr. Dye, Mr. R. Sinclair took the chair, and with a few remarks introduced Mr. Monk, who spoke for over an hour and a-half, and was frequently cheered and applauded during his speech. His address bristled with patriotism throughout, and was an earnest appeal to young New Zealand, and all interested in the welfare of the colony, to arouse themselves to a thorough knowledge of our true position, and act accordingly. Several questions were put regarding his views on the Eight Hours Bill, and the Truck Bill, &c., to all of which he replied in a satisfactory manner. Mr. Dye proposed a vote of thanks and confidence in Mr. Monk, but Mr. Monk said he would rather the latter part of the motion should be left out, and that the expression of confidence bo left to Che ballot-box. This was cordially passed ; to which Mr. Monk replied, and proposed a vote of thanks to the chairman. A largo number of ladies were present, and listened uppreciatingly to the address.—[Own Correspondent] Mr. J. Palmer addressed the Waitemata electors at the Wade on the 22nd. There was a good attendance, Mr. Lloyd in the chair. The candidate's address was on the

lines of his previous speeches at Warkworth, etc. At the close of his address ho answered a number of questions, in which j he said he would stop all borrowing, local i and general, and was opposed to tho granting of pensions. The revenue derived from education reserves should be placed under one head, for the benefit of the schools of the whole colony ; lie was prepared to make the Legislative Council elective by tho people, and was in favour of the establishment of a State Bank. He would try to ' get an Act passed leaking the tickets of pas-

sengers carried by common carriers pay duty stamp, and thought board and lodging should be provided for the sons of poor people whose children gained scholarships. He would support land tax, but was not prepared to go in for an elected Governor, so long as they got good men from the home Government. A vote of thanks and confidence being passed in Mr. Palnor, a vote of thanks to the chair terminated the meeting,—[Own Correspondent.] TE AKOHA. At a meeting of electors held at Greerton, Gate P.i, on Saturday night, Captain Kerr in the chair, a vote of confidence was passed in Mr. Allen. A most enthusiastic meeting was held at Tauranga on Monday night. Over 200 were present. The .Mayor was in the chair. A number of questions were answered satisfactorily by Messrs. Buttle and and a vote of confidence passed unanimously. Mr. Allen's friends are confident of his return. [BY TKIjKGKAI'J!. —OWN' OOUMKSI'ONDICKT3.] Camhridok, Tuesday. Mr. V. Stewart addressed a meeting of electors at the Public Hall last night. There was a good attendance considering the bad weather, fully 150 electors being present. Mr. J. Gwynneth occupied the chair. In his address Mr. Stowurt advocated free trade in native lands, and a radical reform in local government, which was costing tho ratepayers far too much. Tie proposed to meet the difficulty by very much enlarging the functions of county councils, and he thought that by amalgamation of various bodies some £130,000 could bo an- < nually saved. With regard to native lands there were 12,000,000 acres held by natives which should be taxed, and if it was uro-ed that it would bo difficult to collect sue!) a tax he would reply that the lands could be sold for the tax, commencing with tho lands on the boundary. In regard to the liquor traffic he strongly objected to Parliament dictating as to what he should put down hi* throat. For the future policy lie advocated retrenchment, patience, and avoidance of borrowing. There was one matter ho was very anxious about, namely, tho completion of tho railway from the Thames to To Aroha, which he proposed should be done by English capitalists aided by some concession from Government in the shape of a landed endowment, with stringent conditions as to settlement. He quite believed that he could settle that part of the country with a desirable class of settlers similar to those he had located at Katikati and To Puke. At tho conclusion of his address, Mr. Stewart replied to a number of questions, and on the motion of Mr. Forrest, seconded by Mr. Hewitt, a vote of thanks was accorded to the candidate for his address.

Taukanoa, Tuosday. Mr. Cox had a very successful meeting Inst night on behalf of Mr. W. S. Allen His address was well received, and after a number of questions had been satisfactorily answered, a vote of thanks was passed.

I COLONEL ERASER AT MORRINSI VILLE. The To Aroba correspondonfc of the Waikato Times says : — Colonel Eraser addressed a meeting of tho electors at Morrinsvillo on Saturday evening, reading a resumd of the speech ho has delivered on previous occasions. At the conclusion of his speech he was questioned as to his reply at Paeroa re the Wellington Club. He said he was not now a member, but he was a member last session. lie was further asked if over he had any unpleasantness in any club. He replied : " Yes, several years ago, in a certain club, in a row ; to save his friends he had made himself the scapegoat and resigned from the club, but he was sorry since that he had done so." A vote of thanks was passed, and whilst a no-confi-dence motion was being moved the candidate left tho room, and the meeting broke up.