The Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1911. THE AWARUA SEAT.

Southland Times, Issue 16842, 19 September 1911, Page 4

The Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1911. THE AWARUA SEAT.

It would be unfair, we suppose, to estimate the qualifications of Mr W. A. Morris as a candidate for the Awarua seat, or his weight as an opponent of Sir Joseph Ward, by the address which he delivered to the electors at Winton last week. Mr Morris dealt rather with details than with large questions of policy. The details were not unimportant, but they were matters of administration rather than matters affecting the destinies of the Dominion. He gave as his reasons for withdrawing his confidence from the Government the £4OO vote to Mr W. P. Reeves, and the appointment of Mr Dinnie to the position of Chairman of the Native Land Board after Mr Bishop had reported adversely upon his administration in the Police Department. He declared himself in* favour of the totalisator and opposed hereditary titles. Touching upon matters of policy Mr Morris denounced borrowing, and very sensibly suggested that the duty on sugar should be reimposed and the proceeds used to reduce borrowing. Here Mr Morris makes a proposal that we have made repeatedly in this column. The people of the Dominion derived no benefit whatever from the remission of the duties on sugar and kerosene. The Government merely deprived itself of a large revenue without obtaining any benefit for the taxpayers. How the sugar monopoly regards a protective duty is evident from the prices it fixes in Australia. The price of sugar in Aus-

tralia is exactly £6 per ton higher than the price in New Zealand. ' Australia protects the sugar industry by a duty of £6 per ton. The Colonial Sugar Refining Company can manufacture sugar and sell it at a profit in New Zealand at £l6 per ton, and in Australia it would have precisely the same margin of profit, but it adds the duty to the price and charges £22 per ton. If the duty were reinstated it is certain that the price of sugar in New Zealand would be raised. The mistake was made when the duty was removed. It would have been infinitely better for the taxpayers if, instead of making these remissions, the Government had earmarked the revenue for public works and had made a corresponding reduction in the amount of loan money raised annually. Mr Morris has a very sound plank in his opposition to borrowing, and also in his opposition to the party system of government. On that question we have not left Mr Morris a great deal to say, but we are very glad to think that the people of Awarua will hear the party system denounced and its anomalies and absurdities exposed from the platform during the next two months. So far as the land question is concerned we do not quite know where Mr Morris stands. His sympathies appear to be with the freehold, but he would preserve the leasehold so as to enable men of small means to make their start as farmers. That is practically the policy of the Opposition and also the policy of the Government. The Government has virtually withdrawn its opposition to the freehold and will give the maintenance of the optional system as its land policy. What are Mr Morris’s views in respect to the claims of tenants on Crown and settlement lands? Speaking of compulsory military service Mr Morris said that ho “thought that every man should be trained to protect his country.” We take it, therefore, that the present Defence Act has his approval, but why should he ridicule the headquarters staff and the uniform which military officers wear? Does Mr Morris suppose that the Territorial force would create itself, that it would grow' spontaneously? He appears not to have the faintest realisation of the work Major-General Godley has done in winning the hearty co-operation and assistance of the whole community for the new defence scheme, or of the remarkable degree of success which the headquarters staff and the district staffs have achieved in bringing the new force into existence. It is part of the Dominion spheme to officer the Territorial force with New Zealanders, but at the outset the guidance of experienced soldiers is necessary, and in this respect the Dominion has been exceptionally fortunate in its choice of men. Mr Morris’s sarcasms were cheap and quite unworthy of a serious man. As we have said,' Mr Morris’s speech was devoted to details rather • than to policy questions, and the electors of Awarua will not be able to measure his quality until he carries out his promise to return to Winton after Sir Joseph Ward has spoken.