The Mataura Election.

Southland Times, Issue 17082, 3 November 1902, Page 3

The Mataura Election.

MR I. W. RAYMOND AT WOODLANDS. There was a large attendance at Mr T. W. Raymond’s meeting at Woodlands on Saturday evening to hear his claims for the representation of the constituency of Mataura in Parliament. Mr James McKerchar was voted to the chair, and in introducing the candidate referred with appreciation to the services Mr Raymond had rendered the district as a member of the County Council and Education Board. Mr Raymond, who was greeted with applause, said that his esteemed friend the chairman had very kindly referred to his public services on the local bodies of Southland. Service in this capacity was a very good passport to Parliament; any person who had served for the lengthened period that he had should have a very fair grasp of the administrative duties really necessary for a man aspiring to represent a farming constitntency in Parliament. It was the best school that a man could graduate in, and it was a thousand pities that more members had not graduated in it. If all members had done so they would not find the class of men in Parliament that were there, and they would have in their place men who knew the local requirements of their districts. He was standing before them as an

OPPOSITION CANDIDATE. He respected Mr Seddon and ,his abilities as much as anyone, and approved of a good deal of the progressive (legislation that had been associated with his name and party, but he claimed to be a man of too independent a nature to follow the example of the Government supporters, and bow the knee to the greatest autocrat that the colony had ever beheld. (Applause.) Though he was an Oppositionist, he wished to make his position very clear. It had been customary to say that a man in opposition to the present Government must be a Tory, but he claimed to be a Liberal Oppositionist, and asked the electors to judge by his utterances whether he was a Liberal or not. It was clearly the duty of the candidate who had represented a constituency in the past, and the Government that the candidate supported, to lay before the conntry some policy co guide the party and those that wore following. That had not been done in the present election-the candidates did not know where they were exactly. They gave out that the Premier would announce the Government policy when he returned from the Home Country, but he had nob done so, and his (party were floundering about in a most lamentable way. They urged that the Opposition had no past record to submit to the electors. He knew that a number of people associated Mr Seddon with Liberalism, but if Mr Seddon took an important appointment in South Africa would Liberalism be submerged in New Zealand. Not at all. (Applause.) True Liberalism would remain as long as it remained true to the tenets which had been accepted, and would reign irrespective of individuals. — (Applause.) He was also aware that a number of people in opposition to himself would say that if he were elected he would have to follow Captain Russell and his party. Captain Russel was an honourable gentleman and an able man in the ordinary sense of the term, but he was not born to be a leader in a democratic country. If he were returned, and Captain Russel were asked to accept the leadership of the Opposition, he was inclined to think that he would have to decline to support him, as, though he had advantages he had also counter-balancing disadvantages which would not suit him as the leader of the narky which he (the speaker) would join in Parliament. He had said that the Government had no policy to lay before the electors. He was perhaps wrong in that; they had A BORROWING POLICY.

The Government clutched at this policy as a drowning man caught at a straw, and kept themselves' alive by importing foreign money. It had been submitted by the Government candidates that the Opposition had no platform to lay before the country. So far as he was concerned he had discussed no policy with any man with whom he might be associated, but he was prepared,, to submit a platform, and he believed.that it would find general sympathy and support. His platform was as follows (1) Substitution of moderate borrowing in place of present and great plunging policy ; (2) judicious and economical expenditure of borrowed money, on reproductive works, in lieu of reckless and extravagant system of scattering the public money broadcast to secure political support, and creating a bogus prosperity; (3) extension of electoral districts so as to reduce the number of members to 60, and reforming the Upper House by making the membership elective, the number not to exceed half that of the Lower House ; (4) reform of the Civil Service, so that merit shall be the passport to promotion, not political influence ; (5) taking immediate stops to make the colony attractive to the outsider, so as to increase its population ; (6) amending the land laws so as to replace the present spoon-feeding system that is going on in favoured localities by substituting an optional selection, so that any settler can secure a freehold on extended payments ; (7) to introduce legislation en abling the producers to handle their produce from the paddock to the consumer ; (8) to introduce a comprehensive scheme of local government reform ; (9) to make an honest attempt to grapple with the problem of liquor reform ; (10) introduction of an equit able system of assessing the value of lind. (Applauee ) He undertook to say that these points would appeal to a very large percentage of those present. (Applause.)

FINANCE. Anyone could finance as long as there was someone to keep on lending him money, and that was Che position of the present Government. In 11 years the Government had imported into the colony, in round numbers, £14,000,009. The country had contributed by taxation, indirect and direct, a total' of £50,000,000. Their contribution in taxation alone had been £20,000,000, and £3,000,000 from the sale ot landed estate. So the Government had had placed in their hands £43,000,000. Anyone who had been privileged to visit the North Island and other parts of the colony might well ask : What liave we got to show for it ? So far as Mataura waa concerned, its share was, roughly speaking, half a million, but had they anything to show for it beyond a few' public works ? The fact was that the country had been borrowing at a far greater ratio than its productiveness had warranted. Eleven’years ago they could send away' gold , o pav their interest and jmporta, and receive bsAmgold £1,500,000, but on the same basirf pt present they were £1,080,000 on the wrong Mde. During the last session of Parliament the Government got sanction to borrow 1? million, hut the Government had increased borrowing powers, whereby they could borrow four millions before Par lament re-assembles. But there was not the slightest danger of this being borro.7ed. Why . Because our credit was not good en<s’’Sil. had we to do during the last session C. -t arliament? Pay £150,000 to the Midland Bailway debenture-holders, though they had no proper claim, because when the colony’s last £1,000,000 loan was put on the market they became so aggressive that it cost £BO,OOO, or really 9 per cent. He would have supported this payment as a matter of expediency, as it paid the colony to pay this “ blood money.” The Colonial Treasurer had been borrowing on shortdated debentures—a quiet system of kite-flying-and the debentures had to be redeemed at an increased rate when they fell due. The whole principle of the Government had been borrow, borrow, borrow, and he submitted that it had to cease. Personally he was not against borrowing—they must borrow to keep the country going They had only to look at the revenue and expenditure and they would find that the margin was so small that it was not worth while considering, as £150,000 was all the surplus to carry on publfj works. So it was necessary for the colony to go to the jews in London. He was committed to a moderate amount, of borrowing, but let ttys money be spent judiciously, economically, and wisely, so that the colony would get value for 20s in She £.

THE CO-OPERATIVE SYSTEM, ' It was not fair of the Government to state that £6,900,000 of the 14 millions borrowed was interest-bearing, without giving a proper account of expenditure of the remaining £7,100,000. It was supposed to be extending our public works on the cooperative system, but he unhesitatingly stated that if they had spent five millions of

that money under the contract system they -would have had double the distance and mileage pt their railway they now had. (Applause.) To show how■ the expenses of the colony had been piled up during the last few years the cost under 12 headings of public expenditure had increased by £700,000. Three years ago the members returned started off by taking the colony’s cheque-book and writing out an increase to their salaries for £4O. That was the first thing they did after they -were returned at last election. The electors of the colony put their representatives’ value down at £240, but after they were returned their own estimate of their value went up £4O, and they next wiped out this £4O and made it £3OO, taking care to keep “ this side of the four walls ’’—(laughter)—by first amending the Public Revenues Act, and so justify their “ steal. ” The plain fact was that some of the members were e making a profession of politics—they would not earn £l5O a year in any other walk of life L’ they went out next election. (A voice : they could got the pension—laughter). The members had increased their own salaries and the Ministers’ allowances by large sums, and the Department of Agriculture expenses had increased by £62,000. The Government had imported a large number of vets., many of whom could be done without. Some of them were incompetent, and he gave one instance which came under his notice showing the utter absurdity of remedies for diseases in cattle sometimes recommended. He submitted that the colony had to start and retrench in a number of directions—reduce the honorarium of- members to a reasonable amount, say £240; knock off some of the ministerial allowances ; retrenchment in the Civil Service ; and do away with a number of the Government vets. By this £250,000 could be saved in the public expenditure, and the colony would not know that the service had been interfered with. The people were, grossly over-governed—Bo members for a population of 800,000. By reducing their members to 60 they would do the work as well or bettor and save time and money as well. He would support making the Upper House elective and reducing the number of members to half that of the Lower House. The election would rid the country of the “deadheads,” and he was satisfied that 75 per cent of the present members would disappear. It was a notorious fact that 80 percent of the nominations to the Upper Chamber had been made from men whom the democracy had rejected at the general elections for the Lower House. But it did not suit the Premier to have an elective 'Upper House. The colony would have to moderate its expenditure of money on public works, as they were over-stopping the bounds of prudence at present. Public works must be curtailed if the colony was to act honestly with themselves and their London creditors. If they could borrow £2,000,000 of money and increase the productiveness of the country in ratio to the amount of increased money they sent out as interest, then they should borrow. But the Government had not been increasing the productiveness of the country. They were kept in office by the town labour unions, and these men insisted on works being carried out at the colony’s expense under the co-operative labour system, which increased the cost by 50 per cent. Take the Makohiue viaduct in the North Island. Seven years ago, when to' tiers were called for that wotk, a tender at £48,000 was received, the work to be completed in two and a half years. For some reason or other (it was now alleged that the engineer made a mistake in not going deep enough with the foundations) the contractor received back his deposit, and the work was started on co operative labour. The stated cost of the viaduct up to the present time was £72,000, but he undertook to say that if everv charge was made that ought to

foand that *th« n co«t wu'neaw £lOO,OOO. Another instance of wasteful expenditure mi the making of » roed to * curtain locality. The dtataw actually cccujiei by the road was 7J mites, but an the crow Hies it wa« only three miles. It had been laid , the banks were dammed, it would make an excellent canal. (Laughter.) The cost to the colony he was told was £15,000, and in conversation with an engineer he learned that it could have been executed over the proper route for £3OOO. He believed that the Government engineer was told to give employment to a certain number of men on the road, and so he put them on at the cooperative stroke. It had been suggested that the Southland County Council worked its men on the co-operative system, but this was incorrect. Every man in the gang was an expert and knew his business, and, in bridge-building or any other work, was superior to the co operative man. POPULATION.

This was one of the most serious problems the colony had to face. He was glad to see that the Premier had admitted that the want of population was one of the greatest handicaps that New Zealand had had to la bour under. To remedy this, as it could not be accomplished in the natural way, the colony must be made as attractive as possible, and the proper class of settlers induced to come here. There were thousands of men leaving the Old Country, but they were not coming to New Zealand. When he was at Home he called on the Agent-General for Canada, and, in conversation with him, New Zealand wts touched on, and he asked why the settlers did not go to New Zealand. The Agent General said: “Poor New Zealind, with 50 millions of debt.”—“ But look at the vast territory.”—“But what about the population.” He (tho speaker) then recognised that New Zealand had only 800,000, and they could not expect the right class of settlers to come here and takeupthe New Zealand “man’s burden.” He believed that if tho Government engaged a lecturer, with views, they might induce a greater number to come than at present, but perhaps not sufficient to warrant the experiment. New Zealand would never be a great manufacturing country. Its destiny must be built up from its producing capacities — but he would deal with that later. In the meantime he wished to deal with one or two LAND QUESTIONS.

It was a pity the colony had not a more energetic Minister Of Lands. In regard to back block settlements, he made a prophecy, that must come true, that within five years every one of those settlements would bo in the hands of one or two individuals. Take the improved farm settlements of Haldane, Waipati, and Heathfield. They were too remotely situated. Waipati and Haldane had their “ bloom ” on now and were peopled by an industrious class of settlers, but Heathfield had passed the bloom stage, and there they could see the fruits of the farmers’ work of several years’ standing coming back into box wood and weeds. The difficulty was that tho land was not of the best ; it had not paid the men to grow crops, so they grovel along. They were energetic aud hard-working men, and he felt sorry that they would, at the end of 4 or 5 years, have nothing to show for their labour. This was wrong, and showed the necessity for reorganisation. He should like to see these village settlements taken over now. He should like to roe Edendale acquired and given to these rm n, so that they could make a living. The lease in perpetuity had been a more popular system than the purchase of Crown lands, because in tho latter the Government hid demanded cash,which was n< t convenient for the great majority ofjsettlers. He contended that if the extended payment system were adopted, no man would hesitate between freehold and leasehold in perpetuity. Wy was freehold denied the settlers? It was becaso the people in power were frightened to meet them ; they had to miet the crowd at their heels, the people*in towns, who knew nothing about land tenure or occupation. They must realise that land was the basis of all wealth, and unless they could make the land more productive they could not get out of it all that they were entitled to. While the present system was going on the Government were creating an army of men who would some day be a greater power in the State, and greater agitators than tho labour unions in the towns. The first time of depression that arrived the settlers would come along and demand reductions in i heir rents, and these would be granted. He was in favour of the Government indicating to every man who wanted to go on the land that he could take up a freehold lease, the ’payments extended over 33 years, if they liked. Money could be borrowed at 340 r 4 per cent.,and the payment by tl e settlers of 1 per cent., as a sinking fund should make the land their own. He was also in favour of the Government limiting the prospectiveland-purchases of individuals. There was nothing in tho present land lows to prevent the owner of landed estate buying 50,000 acres. No man with 10,000 acres should have the right to purchase 20,000, and he would support legislation restricting that right. He was also in favour of abolishing the J per cent, mortgage tax altogether, and giving the existing mortgagor the benefit.

THE PRODUCERS. The prosperity of the colony depended solely on the producers, and when he said that £8,800,000 of their exports were derived from the soil they would see how vitally their interests were connected with it. ’ln 1901 the exports of beef and mutton amounted to £2,200,000 ; butter and cheese, £1,100,000 ; wool, £3,600,000 ; grain, £1,200,000, in round numbers. He believed that there was not one farmer present who was satisfied with the amount he was receiving for his own and his family's work on his farm. New Zealand was handicapped by its distance from the mercantile centres of the world. He believed the Premier was sound -on the question of preferential tariffs, and he should like to see that question brought up in the House. There were men in Britain who realised that if the o'd country and the new were to hang together there must be some bond of unity besides the crimson thread of kinship—there must be a commercial bond. As to the disadvantages of the producer, in addition to being situated far from the markets, the steamers conveying their produce did not trade direct. They had to visit half a dozen ports while collecting cargo, pay excessive dues, and spend six weeks on the New Zealand coast before filling up—all this at the producers’ expense, and every business man in the colony was trying to depress the value of the produce so that he could make something out of it. The producers should insist on legislation whereby a producers’ union or combine would be formed, and have one central head to control the whole produce of the colony. This was their only salvation. In the North Island they were already talking about co-operation in this direction. He favoured the State passing legislation enabling the producers to acquire the whole of the freezing works—and they were all in the market at a price. It would work out in Southland thus:—The producers could Bend their mutton to the freezing works, load at the Bluff, an<] have steamers to carry direct to the Home market. Then the retailjshops at Home sold the mutton for 8d per lb—the producer here gets 2d, and it is Id for freight—where was the other od ’ If the scheme he had submitted was carried out rates would be reduced 50 per cent., by expedition of export, and the producer would benefit directly— hocould make a hobby of the life he had taken up instead of having to struggle for a bare existence as at the present time. (Applause.) He would meet any man in the colony on the platform and discuss this scheme with him, and he was willing, whether elected or not, to go to the North Island and spend a month there in having a chat with some of the influential producers and see if it could not be started. There was a combine in South Africa which controlled the trade there, and there was nothing to prevent their representatives coming to New Zealand and buying up the freezing works, or half of them, and when they did that the others would have to crawl in at the prices thecombine gave them. This outside syndicate would hold the sheep, and simply hold the key of the door of commerce. If the producers wanted stock to go into their works they would have to sign an agreement to ship mutton with them for so many years or they would be blocked. LOCAL GOVERNMENT REFORM.

This was one of the greatest questions with which the present election had to deal. They had only to travel over Southland County to realise that thousands of pounds were being wasted on account of the bad roads, ’put in that condition 'by a policy of starving. The Government had decided that it was not good enough to pay £ for £ for the maintenance of roads, and only gave 5s per £1 for outlying places. The system adopted was to give Government grants, political sops, to sccurejGovernment support at the elections. During the last four years Southland. County Council had received £32,C00 in Government grants, and had Contributed £62,000 in rates. Three local

in rates and received £132,000 in Government grants. This system should not be perpetuated; the North Island was simply ,was going orf. If the Government would recognise tho exertions of the ratepayers by -giving £for£ they would give the county councils an assured finance, and the rates and subsidies could be expended to better advantage in maintaining, the main and making new roads. At present the coffers were absolutely empty, and would continue so till the electors returned men who knew something about it. LIQUOR.

He would undertake to say that no candidate had addressed them from the platform on the question of liquor legislation. It was one of those questions which the willynilly politicians were not game to touch, and they only prayed that no one would ask them about it in tho meeting. lie wished to tell them straight out what his position was in regard to the liquor. He believed in the three-fifths majority so far as local option was concerned, and in a bare majority for colonial option. He would advocate an amendment in the Act whereby, if two or three places carry prohibition this time, a national vote would be taken on prohibition witbin the next six months. Suppose prohibition were carried in Mataura it was not “ good enough ” for Awarua to pour liquor into this place—(loud applause)—it would not be fair either to the trade or the cause of temperance. —(Applause.) He thanked the audience for the patient hearing they had given him, and hoped that il they agreed with .his views they would re turn him as their representative. QUESTIONS. In reply to Mr Piercy, who asked whether the candidate was in favour of the State working acquired coal mines on th-co-operative system, Mr Raymond said that he was not in favour of grea' State interference in these things, and was not in favour of the co-operativeststem. As to whether he was in favour of completing tho North Island Main Trunk Railway in two years, ho believed that it would pai the colony to borrow money to complete i> as soon os possible. If they were to do th' work under the contract system ho would certainly support the borrowing of sufficient money to carry it right through ; it was it the interests of the whole colony to push the line on to Auckland, as they were losing interest money on it already. Several other questions were asked, but they wore of t. frivolous nature, and several of tho youngo: men showed signs of becoming hilarious. votes. '

Mr Dawson (amid laughter at a remark o' “ Well done, Awarua”) proposed a vote o: thanks to the candidate for his address, and this was seconded by Mr Piercy. An amendment was proposed by Messrs Each and Schmidt, of thanks for tho address an< confidence in the candidate as a fit and proper person to represent Mataura, and was carried with a few dissentients. A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded a ver,. favourable meeting.