WAIAPU ELECTION.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 10528, 1 December 1905, Page 4

WAIAPU ELECTION.

MR. G. E. D Alto. UN Ai % THE TUli^illl!. KUIAi,.

Tho Mayor (Mi* Townley) piesicieu vi a pacivuil meeting id lUe lne..Ue Koyui last evening, wnen Ms U. E. Dariuli, Lne La oor _.ioeral ana Proiuoitionist cauuuiiiio gave nis views, m uiuoauciiig tno caiiuiduio, j\lr lewnloy suia mx Uaiton luu como out rutuor rate, but whs going Lo muKe up lor it by ins energy now ue was out. it was at liiwi tuougiu. tlie- election would be a walii-over, ana no one expected tueio weno so many lawmakers ni tno eoiuiury. (Appumse.) ilr Darton, wlio 1-oi.eivod an excellent ' hearing, modestly expressed lus nervous- , ness ab addressing a large meeting lor tlio hrst. time m lus liio. (Hear, near.) Ho would refrain from personalities. It sliould bo clearly understood there wa.s no party beliind lum, and he did not claim any, but merely claimed individual support-. The labor question was imperleciiy understood, even by tho workers tnemselves. The good that hud been done by Unionism was seen daiiy, unu the employers benefited by it also. It there had*, been organised unions m Russia tho present troubles would have been averted. Mr Darton went on to speak of the advantages of unionism to employer aud employee alike. He showed that ucdonism was ol great advantage to the conscientious employer, who before the organisation of labor had paid Ms men a fair rate of wages, because it made the sweaters pay the same rate. Workers now earned throughout the year steady pay. These benefits had not been got without difficulty, and he would leave it to the audience to say whether the claim for preference was not a fair one. In nearly every case the Arbitration Court had granted preference to unionists, and it should be granted m aIL Mr Darton quoted the Native Minister's reply on the preference question, and stated that tho preference clause had been granted m every award except one, that of the wharf laborers. He read the usual preference clause from the painters' award, aud maintained that there was nothing unjust m its terms. The men did not want to leave tlie granting of the clause optional with the Arbitration Court, but wished it to be included m the statute, so that the question would bo left m the people's hands. Tlie mon did not say that only unionists should bo employed, nor did they want to force nion to join the union. What they wished to do was to extend the hand of fellowsliip to other workers, and enable them to participate m the benefits of unionism. There was no desire to create ri monopoly, and if it could be proved that their' claim was unjust ho would drop the matter. He pointed out a gr-xve injustice to the workers m Gisborne m that tho awards provided that if thero wer© -.my breaches by unionists the union would be hable to a penalty. With all care, mistakes were sometimes made, and when breaches occurred tho unions themselves took action. But there was great delay m getting these cases heard. In July, 1904, there had been a small breach of award, and that case had not been heard yet, and how could the union bo expected to keep its men m the place to give evidence. It was all right with the employer, who was a- fixture. It was a cruel shame for the men. It was, ho knew, easy to criticise, and any man who could not rebuild should not pull down. He would suggest a remedy, and that was tluit iv broaches of award tho magistrate should I hear evidence, which could bo forwarded J to the Court, and so allow an immediate hearinc of the case.

Tlie land question had caused great discussion last session. The Land Act of 1892 wns the basis of their land laws, and had done more for the country than any other Act. Tliey had a great deal to thank the Government for for that grand Act, which was brought m by Sir Jolm McKenzie. It did more for the working man than any Act the Government had brought m. The 1885 Act of tlie previous administration had not been for the working man, but the largo. They had been grid-ironing the country, and' Mr McKenzie, who had suffered under tho laud laws at Homo, brought m his 999 years' lease. Mr Darton explained the advantagos of the lease m perpetuity, and pointed out the injustice to the public of the fact that though the leasehold land was increasing greatly m value, the State only got its 4 per cent, m tho way of rent. It was unjust to the public. He did not favor the freehold, as he liad seen too much of the curses under it, and emphasised that the ciy for the freehold was not- from the leaseholder, but came from the man who wanted to get the land from him. If they had ten leaseholds they could be sure there would bo ten people on the land, but with ten freeholds they could never be sure that they would not. belong to one mau. A private owner would not grant the freehold to a tenant if he did not think ht, and how could the State be expected to do it? The claim for the ireehold at tlie original value was sim«ply ridiculous. There was nothing to prevent the aggregation of large estates, wnich crime was still going on. Any schomo that would stop tlie accumulation of estates would bo a blessing. He suggested that they should make all translers — not alone transfers of Crown lands, but private lands as well — subject to approval. Jf a person could not sign a declaration that he had not more than a certain area of land he should not get more. Another remedy he supported was a graduated land tax, that tlie email farmer would pay very littlo. Tho small farmer paid moro than ho should, and the big man was not. paying his sharo. Jf Mr Darton could bring it about, the big man when ho got up to 20,000 acres would bo paying enough for the lot. lt would be a good means of raising money, and would come from thoso beet able to bear it. Referring to speculation at land ballots, which should be stopped, ho said that as many as 40 or 50 would be m for tho choice sections, a number of whom were townspeople, who would not go on the land if they got the chance. The man who really wanted to go on the land had to compote against these. The town man usually went m on the cash basis, and if successful, he would make, say, £250 without oven going to see the land. <The scheme was bad. Mr Darton suggested that with ten sections the whole should be ballotted for at once, the first man to have first choice, and so on, and this would help to keep the town man out, leaving the good sections to the men who wanted to go on the laud. The provisions of tho Bush and SAvanip Act should bo extended to all bush lands. Ho urged that m settling bush land people should be enabled by the remission of rent for tho first few years to get it into a productive state, when they would be m a position to pay rent. Four years' exemption was granted under tho Bush and Swamp Act, and he advocated that this concession should be applied to all bush lands whether good or not. A man would lie bettor able to pay double rent after the the first four years than to pay rent for the first four years. Mr Darton eulogised the Lands for Settlement Act, which the Opposition liad. said would ruin the country, but wliich was now being copied all over the world. In tho four settlements of this district. Willows, Pouparae, Waimario, and Wigan, with a total area of 11,000 acres, cut up iuto 66 allotments, Avliich had formerly supported four men and four shepherds, they now maintained 231 people. The country gained by getting tho peoplo on the land moro than by the rent received. That was where tho wealth lay, m tho development of settlement. There were vast areas of land m this district etill capable of being cut up. One of his chief complaints against tho Native Minister was that he had not exerted himself to got more laud for settlement m this district. Ho could do more to help them got more 6mail farmers. Take a radius of 12 miles from Gisborne, thero waa only one man who had 27,000 acres, ono-fifth of the area witliin that radius. If thero were five more such estate* they would occupy the lot. It was no good saying that theie was not a petition that his should be cut up. Thoro was one, but the reason why it was not cut up was favoritism. Turning to tlie Native land question, Mt Darton xeiorrcd to tho map snowing tlie areas of Native land iinsetttcd iv +uo North Island, dealt with by Mr Carroll \ttio previous evening. This map, he contended, was compiled from official records of last year, and was not six years old. On that map it wjis 6hown that there were over soven million acres m the North Island, three millions m the Auckland province, and 900,000 m this electorate. The word "unused" had been importod into tho question, but that was not the pokit, which was tliat there were 900,000 acres, of Native land m the district awaitiiig sobtlcuipnt. Thero were 180,000 acres m tho district whicli had nob been through th© Court. He liad searched for one acre of Native land that hadl been sjettledj by the Maori Councils aud could not find it. Where was this Native land that • was ready for saleT The Natives could not sell their land, because tho machinery had gone wrong. It had lost as its flywheel ono of its greatest Liberals! Gisborno ever had, Judge Jones, who would have settled tho Nativo land difficulty if ho had been allowed m a manuer satisfactory to the Maoris, as well as to Europeans, but tins would have settled tho question. "Taihoa" was then called, because the Native land question would have been done away with. . Mr Darton proceeded to deal with tho East Coatst Trust Board, remarking that everything seemed to bo "trust" m this district. Ho detailed the constitution of the Board, and the reasons for its existence. Tlie Natives owed tho Bank £156,000. Tlu> Government, if they kid gouo security for this £156,000 and taken tho land, would havo had to cub it up for the small farmer. This did not suit tho book, and tho 250,000 acres wore pub under tho Board, the members of which, Messrs Macfarlaue, Shrimpton, and Harding, were not likely to cut it _________________£_!_

had 17,000 acres m the Mangapoike, but before teUing them what tliey did with it, he would relate what the Government did with a block of 6UOO acres adjoining it. He referred to the sections occupied by Guy I'orter, Osmond, and otners. This 6000 acres had been cut up and eight persons took advantage ol it. That was au average of 775 acres each, and these eight persons were paying a fair rent aud making a- good living. Tno Trust Board'B blocs of 17,000 acies was generally regarded as a lar better block, but this 17,000 acres had been divided between two families, or boOo acres each. How many settlors who wore knocidng about tho towns could the Government nave put on that 17,000 acres? How many now settlors had the Trust Board brought to this district m disposing of 150,000 acres? They coulu be counted on one hand. There were still 100,000 acres, and it was their duty and his to battle and get some of that saved for the small man. Was it just that a man who already held 20,000 acres should bo offered tho lease of '/bOO more by tho Trust? It was not just, and the Board, as a publio Board, ought to submit to public criticism. He was going on their own report, published m the Herald of September 16th. The figure& were the Board's own. When the Native Minister wns taxed with this, he said : "I cannot help it. Go to the Board. The Board were appointed by the Bank." Mr Darton maintained tliat the Board were not appointed by the Bank of New Zealand, who had no say m their appointment. The Board were appointed by the Government, and m proof of this Mr Darton quoted the East Coast Native Trust Lands Act of 1902, section 3, whicli provided that the Governor, who was the Cabinet, was to appoint the Board of three members. Wliat had the Bank got to do with tluit? He did not say that the Board had not done their best for the Bank, but they had done an injury to this district, which it would take many years to repair. Tho large estates which wore being built up would take ten times the money to buy them back for the State. The appointment of that Board was entirely at the door of the Native Minister liimself. The

"beautiful settlement" that was talked about by tlie Board was a fattening oi tho already fat man — it was a- beautiful settlement for a few — and tho hon. gentleman wanted to turn round and disclaim responsibility. Mr Darton quoted the Boards annual report, m wliicn Mr Carroll was thanked lor his advice. An excuse for not cutting up the land was tnat there wus no muuey to road it, but ttie roads would havo to be nuwle sooner or later at tho public expense, and tne big man would benefit and could divide lus property into wmall sections, wliich the Government should have done years before. Mr Darton criticised the accuracy of Mr Carroll's statement regarding Tc Araroa township, and went on to say that the admissions of Mr Carroll had taken a lot off their shoulders, lt was now agreed the Cook-County Council only received £1600, including Uawa bridge, last year from the public works fund. Il Mr Carroll claimed that £1600 was a fair amount for the main local body to receive m twelve months, then he expected very little. The member said tluit othor moneys had been spent m the district, but how much had been raised by the settlers themselves as loans? Mr Darton held that the district had been shamefully ill-treated m the matter of grants.

No-license was now forming part of the political campaign, and any candidate who did not deal with it was — well, afraid to. lie would deal with it from a working man's point. At present the fixed number of licenses was a monopoly, aud a monopoly was against the principles of democracy. Take any ten publicans anywhere m the colony. Were they men who had a university education or special training? No, the publicans had no special training, but had jumped into the business from all runks of life. Take ton drapers, hard-working men, with a long training, and were they making a fortune"/ The fortunes being made m the liquor trade was the result of monopoly. Mr Darton maintained that tho liquor question should be settled by a bare majority on the referendum principle. Four men should not rule six, and every reform should be carried out m the same way. Looked at from the economical standpoint, Mr Darton could not understand the sadden concern felt for the working men by the trade. "Let the poor working man liave his beer." The working man could not afford liis beer, and those wno could afford it would soon be working men, and would then vote prohibition. Mr Darton referred to the Clu-tha electorate, which ho knew better than Poverty Bay, having lived there and visited it many times since prohibition had been carried. Although at first there were more sly grog shops than pubs and police supervision was not what it should have been, things had improved, and prohibition had been a benefit to the district. Mr Darton's honest opinion was that the working man could not afford drink.

The candidate referred to the fact that wliile Crown tenants were getting rebates m the Auckland district, across the boundary m Hawke's Bay this did not apply. It had to be battled out by private people before the Land Commission, when it should have been attended to by the Minister. If a email grant for a local work was wanted the Mayor or some oth. er representative had to go down to Wel. lington to see about what ehpuld have been done by the Minister, who merely introduced the representative to someone else. If this was all that the Minister could do they could give him to come other constituency. A number of questions were replied to by tho candidate. He replied m the affirmative to the official questions of the No-license League. "Are you m favor of all moneyed men pooling, their earnings every years and dividing them amongst those who are not able to work?" — "It would be a good scheme," replied the candidate. If no-lioeneo waß carried by a bare majority he thought a bare majority should get it back. Mr Darton *said that there Mas a rumor that the reaeon for his candidature was to assist iv putting the Hon. Mr Carroll out of the House and getting Mr Clayton m. Those who knew the speaker well know that an Oppositionist was the laet man m the world whom he would vote for. Another rumor was that one of Mr Clayton's supporters had offered him £100. This was not the case unfortunately, for £100 would have enabled his Committee to fight tbe election earlier. They had put their hand 6 m their own pockets to provide funds to make a protest against the treatment they considered they had received from their member. On the motion of Mr R. Johnston a vote of thanks was accorded Mr Darton for his address, and a vote of thanks to the Mayor for presiding concluded tho meeting.