THE NEW EVANGEI.

Otago Witness, Issue 3005, 18 October 1911, Page 3

THE NEW EVANGEI.

SPEECH BY MR FOWLDS. (From Our Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, October 9. The feature of the annual Henry George dinner, which was held to-night under the auspices of the Land Values League, was a speech by Mr G. Fowlds, who referred to his recent resignation from the Ministry, and expanded a little his remarks concerning a new evangel. " I understand,'' said the ex-Minister of Education, " that you expect me to say something to-night regarding my recent retirement from the Ministry, and also regarding the new evangel. The first thing I will say is that I appreciate very highly the many kind messages I have received from p sople of all kinds and from every part of New Zealand. Secondly, I want to express my thanks to all sections of the press, in this country for their appreciative references to the efficient and successful manner in which I administered the various departments that have been entrusted to me- during the time I was a Minister of the Crown. That expression of appreciation has been practically unanimous. It is true that one or two partisan newspapers have been particularly abusive, but considering the sources from which, it has come I have felt more honoured by their abuse than I could have felt by their praise. But in spite of this almost universal expression of appreciation on the part of the press regarding my workj I have been both pained and surprised at the almost equally universal failure of the press to realise the possibility of any person taking the step I have done solely for the purposes of forwarding his ideals for the betterment of human society, apart from any question of personal advantage. It seems to have been altogether beyond the range of their comprehension to conceive the possibility of any person doing as I have done from purely disinterested motives; hence their speculations regarding the future have been somewhat grotesque, and amusingly contradictory. Whatever happens to myself, I shall be satisfied if my action results in quickening the political pulse of the country, and in giving an impetus to the progressive forces of the Dominion Already, I believe, this result has been attained. Perhaps the distinctive feature of the new message will be that it is addressed not so specially to the poor, but rather to the rich, who shall have ' the gospel preached unto them.' The influences at work to-day are separating humanity into two classes —the rich and the poor—and it is becoming increasingly evident that the chief of these evil influences is land monopoly. The message of the new evangel must therefore in the first place be addressed to those who hold the land. The first words of that message recently heard in the gilded Chambers of the Lords at Westminster- are echoing round the world to-day, and the questions thus fairly raised can never again be silenced until the equal right of all to the use of the earth is firmly and for ever established. To free the land, to remove it from the category of wealth, to make it clear that every landholder owes a duty to his fellowmen equivalent to the value of the privilege he holds, that land value is essentially people value, that where there is no land victim there can be no land value, and that therefore land value can never justly be a private asset, but must always be a liability to the extent of its taxing power—this is, and necessarily must

be, the first; lesson of the evangel, for on ! tiia foundation alone can a new social system be based—a system which shall give us a new heaven a.nd a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Beyond that point I do not propose to go to-night. At an early date I shall be addressing my constituents, when I shall deal in detail with the practical steps which I think the people of thi* country should take during the next three years towards the realisation of those sublime ideals of social justice which have been so beautifully and plainly portrayed in the writings of our great leader, Henry George."