PRE – SESSIONAL ADDRESS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 5597, 25 May 1905, Page 3

PRE - SESSIONAL ADDRESS.

MR BARBER AT NEWTOWN. Last night at tho Victoria Hall, Adelaide road, Mr W. It, P. Barber, M-U.R-, addressed his constituents. There were about 120 present. Mr W. Hoginbothnm was chairman. Mr Barber said that probably the question of most interest to the district would be tho Licensing Bill, and there was much need for the legislation passed last session. Ho was pleased that the unfortunate position of Newtown and Bruce had been remedied, and that by the new amendments such districts wore no longer disfranchised. Tho law now provided for a new poll, under certain conditions. w hm there was a dispute. Tho disputed poll had been a bono of contention in Newtown. Under tho new act, too, another matter of great importance to Newtown had been remedied—ho referred to the lapsed license transfers, lie thought tho now law did away with a good many of tho faults -in the oPI law, and lie thought it would ho a Rood ■ mod suit for tho control of tho Bale ot alooholic liquor. . , Speaking of tho Dentists Act, ho said it was a step in the right direction, and in his opinion tho Government would bo required to deal with dentistry in a very comprehensive way. It was only right that there should be a proper regulation of dentistry. Tho people of this colony did not have such good teeth as they should have, and tho Government would do well to inquire into tho reason, and make provision accordingly. The Land Commission was a most important one. In his opinion the Crown leases woro the best for various reasons. They were of advantage to the poor man, enabling him to cultivate the land to his own and Iho clony’s improvement, and they were such as would give confidence to the English money market. He believed the Commission would ga.n a lot of useful information, and ho ■would reserve his opinion on tho land question uutil the report was forthcoming, 'u hat was wanted was to relievo the congested centres and give people a chance to go ca the land and increase the exports* and tho prosperity of the colony. He believed this could best be done by means of the leasehold. Ho had voted against tho High Commissioner Bill because ho thought there was no necessity for such an officer at tho present time. As for the Shops and Offices Art, ho had also voted against that, as it at present stood. An amendment to send the bill to the Labour Bills Committee had received his support, so that those interested should have an opportunity to express their opinion on the proposed legislation. Ho was sorry that motion was not agreed to, and that no opportunity had been given to people to give evidence during the year. Tho bill s original intention was to make a compulsory Saturday half holiday but various amendments were added’ in both Houses. Ho had expressed himself in disagreement with, the clause -which would close the shops at an early hour in the evening, and raised his voice on behalf of his electorate against tho passing of the bill in tho form agreed upon during the last hours of the session for the reason that there was no time for tho entering of a protest by those whom the amendments affected. Ho had hoped the House of Representatives would not agree to the measure as amended by the Legislative Council, and that the bill would not have become law. When, the last conference on the bill between members of the two Houses decided that it should apply only to the four chief centres, it, of course, removed the opposition of the country members, and the bill was passed. He was the only one who had made a speech protesting when tho amendments were brought down on tho last day of the session. and had pointed out that a great injustice was being done. He had been asked why ho had not called for a division. Tho reason was that he could not get a single member to support him. The Private Streets Bill was a bill that had received his support, but he regretted that it had not passed. There was no doubt about it that Mr Seddon had been against the measure. Ho (Mr Barber) quoted from "Hansard” to show that he had said that if Mr Seddon had been true to the workers a bill would have been passed years ago compelling the City ; Council to take over the private street© of the city and maintain them. The bill got through its second reading, but when it cam© up for final approval it was "blocked.” Mr Aitken had consented to tho withdrawal of the bill so that other members* local bills should not be interfered Avith, and he (Mr Barber) could not blame him. He hoped that there would bo wiser counsels prevailing next session, and that the bill would be put through so as to end a very troublesome question.

He had, tip to the present, failed to get a telephone exchange, for Newtown, but ho had not yet given up hope of achieving his point.' Jle was going to persevere until be had the exchange established. (Applause.) It seemed to him that if there was any system under Government control that should have a uniform scale of charges it was the telephone system. (Applause.) He had promised Sir Joseph Ward that if an exchange was established at Newtown he would guarantee one hundred subscribers. Ho had further suggested that the central exchange should be removed to Mount Cook. This would do away with the .difficulty of taking the wires through the main parts of the city, and he knew that the department's officers were at the present time taking wires over the Terrace to avoid the congested streets. The exchange should be nearer Newtown, because the city was going to extend southwards and not northwards. Kef erring to the State_ coal mines, he said ho had protected against the Government's # failure to carry out the objects for which the mine was acquired. The object was to allow the consumer to get the coal without it passing through the hands of the middleman. There was no advantage to the people of the colony unless the Government established its own depots, and allowed the consumer to get the coal direct from th© State, Without such provision State control was no good. The smoko nuisance, which existed in Newtown to a considerable extent, had received his attention, but he had been unable to have any remedy applied so far, Existing laws would have to be altered. He believed he could claim credit for the opening of the Newtown tramway section a little sooner than otherwise would have been the case, and he had been instrumental in having a docent police station erected in the district. He might also speak on the subject of teachers' salaries and the advisableness of framing a superannuation scheme for teachers; there should bo superannuation throughout the Civil Service, but these matters could stand over till a future occasion. There was also the matter of the tourist traffic on the Wanganui river. It was a scandalous thing that the Government should subsidise the service there. Ho failed to see why an individual should be able to get from Wellington to Wanganui and from Auckland to Taumaranui for J3l. while th© journey from Taumaranui to Wanganui cost £S. (Applause.) It would not be long, however, before he would have an opportunity of speaking more fully on these and other matters. (Applause.) A list of written questions concerning the Moikl© case were handed to the speaker. He did not answer them all, hut stated that he was not aware that. 1 thousands of copies of Judge Ward's report had been printed in the Government Printing Office and distributed throughout the colony by Mr Culver, H© did not know why a vote had been placed on the Estimates to defray the costs of a libel action brought against the Premier's secretary and another. To the query, "Are you in favour of fowling lawyers m place of paving Meikle," he answered "No." In answer to another elector Mr Barber stated that lie understood the material for improving the telephone system had arrived, and that it was stored in th* Post Office buildings preparatory to the •preliminary work being done. He favoured free passes on the railwaj’s

for members of friendly societies, certified by their lodges, who desired to visit Rotorua for (heir health's sake. It a bona fide member of a friendly society was certified to be in ill-health, bethought tho Government should give him every facility to get to Rotorua as well as free use of the baths on arrival. (Applause). •* Are vou in favour of the Government acquiring the Manawatu railway r” a voice in the back of iho hall. -Yes. 1 think the whole of the railways of the colony should be State-owned, Mi Barber replied. r _ , On the motion of Mr J. H. Taylor, Mr Barber was accorded a hearty vote ot thanks for his address. In returning thanks Mr Barber said ho would always do his best in tno interests of tho electorate. He would contest the seat at th© general election.