AWARUA ELECTORATE.

Southland Times, Issue 4140, 6 October 1881, Page 2

AWARUA ELECTORATE.

MR KINROSS AT SOUTH __IVIRCA.RQ__.I.. Yesterday evening Mr Kinross, one o£-•-the candidates in the Liberal interest for the representation of Awarua district, addressed a meeting af electors in the Town Hall of South Invercargill. There were) about 60 present. Mr Maher, Mayor ot • the Borough, presided, and introduced the speaker. Mr Kinross, in the opening portion of liis address, congratulated the electors on their separation from the Mataura districtwhich was wont to swamp their* SroWs^ He was glad. to see that since he appeared 1 before them on a previous. occasion, great., improvement had been made in the town-. ship, and that they Jriad got local government. Tho franchise had also been tended, and he trusted that working men would falsify the assertions of their opponents, to the effect th,at they would sell their votes, by voting like intelligent and independent men for .th/i candidate they approved of. Mr Kinross,-. then went at length into the former politi- - cal events in which he had taken part. During his past career he averred he had been tho special mark at which, the Tory party had launched nil their wea"p<.ri?/ -lljM took objection to the remarks of the la-^ vercargill correspondent of the' Mk.aurtt' Ensign with reference to his candidature, more especially to that portion wberejie expressed surprise that he (Mr Kinross) had been brought forward by .the Liberal party. Ho asserted th.it he was net so brought forward. With Mr Joyce he~had • fought for tlie 'Liberal cause) and 1 thf rf had been the fullest confidence between them. Before the last election he 'hito^ called bn Mr Joyce md other membersfof the party for advice as to whether he should stand for Mataura, but received no encouragement, _. Hei Jeft hi?. . addreias Jo^ the, electors t with Mr Joyce for pußlica-" tiorr, if v it was thought advisable thlatf h| ■ should stand, but on coming to town somelime after he found Mr Shanks in the field, and Mr Jo3'Ce supporting him. He felt this flight by his party more than any Tory calumnies. .This was the reason why he .had not come forward on this oticasiou a^ the candidate of the Radical party. He had contended for Liberal principles under great temptation to desert the cause, and had made up his mind to.throV 4himself on the support of the iiidustriftl^ class to which ho belonged, and go td'thii^ poll. He did uot think they would throw" an old servant over, and if he got fair play he had no doubt he would stand at the top Of the poll. ' (TJnes of NoVYeslJ^e (jaid he had no doubt Mr Joyce would not

' votes and so allow a Conservative ,J win, and expressed an opinion that although that gentleman 1,... made a mistake i» bringing forward Mr Shank* lie w.. a staunch Liberal. (Hear, hear.) Uy •rave reasons for bein- a follower ot Sir George Grey. That gentleman entered the arena of colonial poluics in the fall ot lite, ft nd then only because a great principle was at s'-ikf, an attack having been made on ,1,0 'constitution— the froi-st P^scd hy any British colony— which he (S:r George) had given them. He was not succeasf | rt ,it that time, but he (Mr Kinross) thought tbat a man, even if In- was not successful, should gut credit lor Ins efforts on behalf of the working class. Before Sir George came to the House there was no consideration for anything affecting the working class: the question Iwasc'iicHy which party should rule. The Hall pa ty said tliat Sir Georgo Grey had m-ver tried to carry his own views while lie was in power." The reason why he did not was that he never had Liberal colleagues. They were a mixed lot, and Sir George wisely decided not to bring his measures forward till a new House was elected. They knew what had been the result of that election; partios were evenly balanced. Had Mr Feldwick and he been returned instead of Mr Bain and Mr Shanks, Sir George would have bad a good majority - and could have carried through legislation that would have been a blessing to the country. He asserted that the Hall Government made the state of the affairs of the colony look gloomy in order to discredit the Grey party. He admitted that financial matters had not been so well managed by Mr Macandrew and Mr She--han as they might have been. The Hull Government, he considered, had treated Southland very badly iv the interests, not of retrenchment, but of centralism. Their retrenchment policy he condemned as unfairj in that highly paid officials were retainedj while working men on small wages were dismissed. There was also compensation for dismissal given to those who had been getting high salaries, but none for working Servants. The Hall Government had also sacrificed the interests of Southland to those of a private railway company, by altering r 'xhe time-tables to the _ great inconvenience Tof the pnblic. Coming to future measures, Mr Kinross said that the "/greatest want was a good Local Government Bill, which would restore to the districts the powers and revenues of the Provincial Councils. His view was i that the three counties — Wallace, Sonthland, and Lake — should form one county with increased representation, and having the powers of the Waste Lands and Education Boards, and also the dealing with all matters that should never come before Parliament. He would also give these counties endowments or other sources of revenue. To this he thought they were as much entitled as municipalities. The.constitution of the Legislative Council he thought entirely opposed to iree institutions. He would sweep it away and meet tbe objection that hasty legislation would ensue by providing that all bills should be supervised by the law officers, whe would see that they were within the_BCOpe of the constitution. He objected to an unpaid House of Representatives, .a8 J gi ving facilities for only wealthy men to enter, who would make laws to suit themselves, and treat the wants of •the .industrial classes with contempt. Liberalising the land laws he considered .to bt o(Oi. great importance. As they stood 'at present they were fair, but could be improved. In this subject he had always taken a deep interest, and believed he was the first who spoke of the advantages of the def erred -payment system in Southland. tt 'Was unfortunate, that before the land laws were made liberal the best of the land had been taken up in large blocks by BDfculsJjtors. The best way to break up these huge estates was the imposition of Sir George Grey's laad tax, making it progressive so that the mor© land a man held the more he should pay in advancing rates. Of plural voting,from past experience, he had a wholesome dread and would - abolish it. The ballot, although a great safe-guard, he would improve on by abolishing the numbering of the papers. To prevent personation he would have feVery 7 "elector sign his name in a book .nt the polling place. With regard to the introduction of the reading of the i Bible ioto the State schools, he was in favor of the proposal made, by the Southland Education Board to School Committees some time ago. That was tliat the Bible should be read during half-an-hour eithei before the ordinary of the school or after its close, ieavifig parents to say whether their children should join in it or not. This, while he would be sorry to do anything unfair to any section of the community, he thought would be a good compromise. He objected to State funds and lands being treed -f or the erection and maintenance of BO raany f High Schools and Universities, as they were of little or no benefit to the industrial "classes, who were called on, through taxation, toisupport them largely. (Hear, jtMiar.) Iv this respect be differed i from Sir George Grey, who was in favOr of higher education at the public expense. The purchase pf native, landp, he held, ; should rest wiflithe Government only, and he would let ?the Maoris come ond offer their land for-sale. As— the advent of Ilu'rbpeahJ- had given value to that land he thought the Government was entitled tb ; the benefit of its unearned increment. . He ; was opposed to the Railway ConstructibnßUl on the ground that the rail- I waffl 1 would bave to be constructed ; with bprrpwed money, and the Govern- ! ment could obtain that on cheaper terms than'any private company. Besides, these companies always got the best of the bargain with th 6 Government. There had been* proposals, to establish a Board of Woiketo dole out funds for the construction of public works, but the system was a rotten one and be wa* glad the bill had been dropped. Votes for immigration had fceen passed on the last Estimates. These, in the face of the fact that thousands of Sett had left the colony through lack of employment, he thought were not re-nuu-ed. ft was Mid that most of the money to be devoted to bringing out £male t&rraata. He held that it was unfair to &ose who did not need servants ♦T*t they should pay for their importawho did. It the wealthy riaueß wanted servants they should send fgZZ (Hear, hear).. He was not m favor of excessive protection to native industries, but where it was proved that 2 ti-ade would flourish by judicious protection he would be in favor of it, and if elected would endeavor to get the Customs tariff altered so as to as- ■__■? local industries. In conclusion Mr Kinross urged the electors to ascertain -jLarir before voting who was the best S^ndgo to the poll like free and mdcr aVe, as Mr Kinross had made some pointed personal remarks regarding him, to reply to them. Assent having &en given he said lhat an impresSon imEftt be conveyed by Mi Kmross's remarks that he had proved deceitful to a friend He would endeavor to show that he was not so, The statement by Mr Kinross with reference tc- his bringing his address to'the electors to him, on the occa--so*te the last? election, was quite fair It wStru^Blsothatliedid not advise him. Bwm not hi- place to do so He was only an individual member of the party, dnd could not take upon himself _te decide whether it was advisable for Mr Kinross to rtind&r Mataura. The state of matters ot <fc» tithe was that Mr Kinross had been appointed 4o the-Waste *Lan*M,Bpanl shortly before, and the - n£rt£- thought that by taking this ap"which carried jfo J^rgw was 4ebarr«d fron* seeking !-*C. . ..-■;..-.' -' - • ,•-.:■

election. It was also thought that he had no chance as against Mr Shanks. Mr Shanks was not selected by him (Mr Joyce) hut l>y the party to -rhich; he belonged ; and there was reason for belioving that he was an lion-.-st, straiy-'itforwanl, and truthful man, and a; h • '--ai 1 he would support tliu Liberal parly. V- was selected. He did not, think lie was to blame in this. He was not Mr Shanks' keeper ; and ho had been deceived in bim, as well as those who supported him, by Ins desertion of the Grey Government. Mr Kinross, in reply, said that he had not a seat on the Land Board till the election* were over. He stood on that occasion because he understood that Mr Wood wan going to retire. He thought Mr Joyce was mistaken as to the time at which these circumstances occurred. Mr Joyce said that, in the absence of records on which they could lay their fingers and lix dates, no good end could be served by continuing the controversy. In this Mr Kinross agreed and the matter droppad ; both gentlemen expressing their belief that if there was any misstatement on either side it was unintentional. In reply to questions, the candidate said that if the Conservatives put forward a candidate he would not conic to any arrangement with the»otlier Liberal candidates, but would go to the poll. He would support the reading of the Bible in schools outside tho school hours. (Hear, hear.) He would have the children read the Bible in presence of the teacher, without comment from him. He thought it would be no hardship to teachers, as their hours were short and they had numerous holidays. He would not support any measure for the reading of the Bible duringsphool hours during which children of every denomination were receiving instruction. (Loud cheers.) He did not object to comment on the Bible, but knew that other people did. He would support the views of the majority, and believed that the proposal of the Education Board to which ho had referred, was in accord with the wishes of the majority. (Cheers and cries of " Stick to that.") Ho did not think it 20iild be any hardship to a teacher who was a Roman Catholic to be present while children read the Bible. He did not think it would be well to give power to School Committees on the question of Bible-reading, nor to select teachers favorable to it. He considered it was the duty of clergymen, Sunday School teachers, and parents especially, to look after the teaching of the Bible to children. (Hear, hear and cheers). He would vest the powers of the Education Board in the extended County Councils as he had previously explained. In reply to Mr Strang: He would be in favor of the restoration of the railway workshops and machinery. To Mr Craig, who asked if he did not think three Liberal candidates were likely to injure the cause by allowing a Conservative to slip in, Mr Kinross said that he certainly thought it was injurious, aud was sorry the others had come into the field. (Laughter.) He would not retire. (A Voice : You are no friend to the cause then.) He did not consider that there were thiee Liberal candidates. Mr Robert Millar suggested a ballot, or a " toss up" for it, " odd man out," but Mr Kinross said he could not see how a ballot could be taken in tho circumstances. If it could be shown he might consider the matter. Mr Kelly, seconded by Mr Strang, moved that this meeting pass a vote of thanks to Mr Kinross for his address. To t'.iis Mr Rowlands, seconded by Mr Murray, moved, as an amendment, that this meeting is of opinion that Mr Kinross is a fit aud proper person to represent the Awarua district. The amendment on being put was negatived by a decided majority amid cheers and applause. The motion was then put and carried unanimously. A vote of thanks "to the Mayor, proposed by Mr Kinross, closed the proceedings, which had lasted over two hours.