WAKATIPU ELECTION

Southland Times, Issue 16888, 13 November 1911, Page 7

WAKATIPU ELECTION

StR JOSEPH .STEPHENS AT LUMSDEN The weather conditions were decidedly unfavourable on Friday evening when Mr Joseph Stephens, who is contesting that Wakatipu seat, addressed the electors of Lumsden. Xevertheless about fifty braved the elements and among the number were several ladles. Mr Andrew Small, who was voted to the chair, sajd that he was not a supporter of Mr Stephens, but, that being understood, he would act in the capacity of chairman. He asked for the speaker the usual patient hearing which LumsdenItes were wont to give. Mr Stephens was a young man, born in the country, and it was refreshing to see young colonials coming forward to take an active interest in public affairs. Mr Stephens spoke for upwards of an hour and a-half and was attentively listened to throughout, while his remarks were punctuated at times witli loud applause. He spoke lucidly and Blmply, without notes, and gave voice to his ideas and views in a clear, understandable manner. On rising to speak he met with no reception, but on resuming his seat he received a hearty round of applause. The candidate said that the contest for the Wakatipu seat was going to be a triangular one, a circumstance attributable to no fault of his, as another candidate had appeared in the arena When he was half-way through. Why that had happened he was at a loss to understand, but he could assure his hearers that neither of them was the Government nominee. That lie had direct from the Liberal organiser himself. Neither had been nominated by the Liberal party, though each stood In the Liberal interest. The only request that had been made was that, in the event of a second ballot, the united support given to both be directed to securing the Government man’s return. Therefore both he and the other Liberal candidate stood on the same footing. He was only a young man, still he was not there to advance any apology on that account. Time, as it remedied most things, would doubtless remedy that also. It was absurd to say that a man should wait until his faculties had become dulled before entering the field of politics. To do his duty a politician should have all his facul- ’ ties about him. Possibly graver dangers could be debited to those near their second childhood than to those near their first.— (Applause.) To the younger men party did not bulk so largely in politics. By them it was recognised that legislation was the thing, not party. They believed in governing New Zealand for Xew Zealand by Xew Zealanders. At the present time the parliamentary forces were arranged in two parties, and It was easily apparent which of the two was the better party. Rheumatics and Conservatism went hand in hand.—(Applause.) The younger generation had Radical leanings. It was only from the pages of history that he knew of the doings of the Conservatives when they were in power. It was clear, however, that they operated and legislated only In the Interests of the “big” man. offering an occasional sop to the “small” fellow to keep him quiet.—(Applause.) The best criterion of a paz’ty was its backers and the men behind the Conservative party to-day were the “big” men. For the Liberal party ho was not going to claim infallibility. Their sins of omission were, possibly, as great as their sins of commission. They had, in spite of strenuous opposition, achieved much and had accomplished what must be recognised and applauded as splendid work. Xone could gainsay that they had placed some splendid measures upon the Statute Book, He who had benefited in the greater degree by such legislation had been the farmer, and to the present Government the farming community should bo grateful before all others. The worker, too, had much to thank the Government for, as the introduction of the major portion of advanced legislation had been in his interests. Visiting Labour leaders had openly expressed their appreciation of New Zealand’s labour legislation and had given unqualified testimonials of their approval of many measures. On two or three questions the Government and the Oposition differed materially. The Land Question. A country’s barometer of prosperity generally rose or fell in sympathy with the system under which’its land laws were administered- If the land were placed in the ifands of a lew it was Impossible to have a good land system. Originally the Crown lands in the possession of the Government of Xew Zealand had approximated sixty million acres ; now only eighteen million acres remained. The Opposition had suggested that the Crown leases be sold practically at the original value plus one per cent. Such a proposal was a preposterous one, and one that should not be considered for one moment. "When such a scheme was first proposed by Mr Massey It had been pointed out by Mr Laurenson that, providing the land had Increased in value only 10s an acre during the last 20 years, the Country would be giving away nine million pounds to a few Individuals. There had been a great lot heard about corruption but it was doubtful If a more corrupt proposal had ever been heard of. Until the Opposition cut that scheme out of their platform they would never obtain the support of the people of Xew Zealand. The £9,000,000 thus lost would have to be made up by extra taxation. Borrowing’. That was another subject upon which the Government and the Opposition differed. Only two ways presented themselves to a Government in the matter of raising money—extra taxation and borrowing. He was well assured as to which- system would find favour with the people. Eighty-six per cent, of the money borrowed by the Government had been Invested in directly interest-bear-ing Investments. These did not include Totes for roads, defence, and the Dreadnought. Xo doubt the Government had lost a good deal in the Otago Central. Many of the Government’s severest critics had lost a deal of money In the game locality. He would not go into the question of the drains down at Browns, which had loomed so largely In the public eye.—(Laughter and applause.) They -were only things of very minor importance and not worth wasting words over. A good deal of the blame for wasting time in Parliament could be laid at the door of the Opposition, still the Government were. In a measure, open to censure for taking any notice of the other side. Tiiere were many perplexing problems to be solved and both parties could employ their time much more profitably than by wrangling over petty party grievances. * —(Applause.) The Cost of Living. He had devoted some time to the consideration of that question, and, according to economics, the cost of living should have gone down. Yet it was found that, although the cost of production had gone down 50 per cent., the cost of living had gone up 50 per cent. Something was wrong somewhere. To his mind there were three ways of adjusting the matter : (1)A lot of our high protective walls should be cut down ; (2) taxation should be based upon land values ; and (3) the public should be protected from monopolies. With regard to the first, Mr Seddon had talked of a free breakfast table. He thought that all the necessaries of life should be free from taxation. Xowadays the question of freetrade and protection, though a most Important one, was seldom referred to ; people were too busy with those drains down .the country.— (Laughter.) He was in favour of freetrade. It was not right to encourage the manufacture of local articles if the cost was in excess of that of the imported one. Farmers. particularly, should be alive to that fact and should strenuously resist anything in the line of increased protection. Yc;t they were silent. Farmers’ Unions devoted all their attention towards the Labour partv and quarrelled with their threshing mill hands over 2d an hour, while the manufacturers and the big financial Institutions were getting at them all the time. —(Applause.) A duty of 33 per cent, was suggested on all farming machinery. By fostering the manufacture of local machinery those who used the machinery would be hampered and subjected to a species of exploitation. Cheaper, not dearer, machinery, was what was wanted. Candidates were, as a rule, fearful of facing the question because they would be accused of attempting to ruin local enterprise and industry : but he maintained that the high protective walls should be pulled fIoMU ika general good, A

tive policy was neither an Imperial nor a profitable policy. It was propounded only to give work to a few hundred people in the towns. Scientific Taxation. Reduction of taxation was a popular move : but taxation should be pursued on scientific lines. It was Imposed, under the present system, on him who squealed the least. When the necessaries of life were taxed the burden fell on the man with the big family. Another sufferer was the man who went Into the back country. People should be taxed according to the advantages they received from civilisation. People in the back-blocks had few of those advantages ; the best index of which was tlie land values. Therefore, only one scientific system was practicable—taxation on land values. By that means the •burden would be evenly distributed, farmers should welcome taxation on the unimproved value as the speculators in land would bo hit hard. —(Applause.) Speculation in land was going on all over New Zealand, and, through the speculator, land was exorbitantly dear. Speculators who had no intention of legitimately farming the land were bumping up the values every day. and it was these men that the farmers had to compete with. To the genuine farmer there was no advantage in high land values, as even if a man sold out well ho would have to pay a high price for another piece of land. It was only if a man sold out and left the country that he got anything out of it. —(Applause.) Combines and Trusts. , Combines afflicted every country ; but they afflicted the protected countries most. Combination could be met only by combination, and if the State of Xew Zealand entered into competition its people would be protected against these trading groups. When there was justification for State competition the State should certainly step in. Education. The country schools were at a disadvantage in the matter of technical education, but that was a position that could not very well be helped. However, a great deal more might be done In the way of assisting agricultural education in New Zealand. — (Applause.) Defence. To that question he had given considerable thought and he had been afforded an opportunity of knowing more about it than perhaps a great many more people did. Formerly we had lived in a state of war and held by might what we possessed. Civilisation was, however, progressing towards the elimination of armaments, and in view of that he considered that the Compulsory Military Training Bill was not required. Although the dogs of war were at her doors England had not gone in for such a scheme. The Imperial Government had reduced the Indian army, yet Xew Zealand' had increased hers six times. The British nation had been built up on the voluntary principle and, although men had been pressed into service for the foreign wars, no compulsion was required when they were called upon to defend their homes. The soldier was becoming of less importance every day. People would do well to closely watch this military business. The number of permanent officials had jumped from 27 to 202. Those officials drew salaries which averaged £4OO a year, which was as much as a man could hope for in the highest position in the Education service after spending a lifetime in study and work. He did not see 4vhy these military men should strut about in spurs and fal-de-rals at the country’s expense.—(Loud applause.) One of the arguments raised in favour of the scheme was that the youth of the country would benefit by the training. Now the authorities had found that they had too many men, and several thousand would have to be rejected. These rejections would be the very ones that would have benefited from the trainng. The whole thing would fall heaviest on the country men. Their main defence was the navy, and the efforts of the country should be centralised towards maintaining its full share in that splendid line, of defence. For home defence a- volunteer force would be quite as efficient as a compulsory one.—(Applause.) The licensing’ Question, Prohibitionists held that prohibition conduced to temperance. If that were so, then the system should be given a fair trial, and it should rbe settled on a fair democratic footing by a bare majority.— (Applause.) As the law now stood it was unfair to both parties. Conclusion. Many of his opinions might not have met with the general approval of his audience. That was only to be expected. He had endeavoured, however, to get off the beaten track and to deal with questions that were of the most vital importance. even though many candidates refused to include reference to them in their addresses. A change from the Government to the ©position would be jumping out of the frying pan Into the fire. People did not want to be led away with any of the professions of Liberalism which were going about. They would have ‘to guard against letting Conservatives slip into power under the guise of Liberalism. At election time special vigilance was necessary and electors should be on the qui vive in order that their advantages should he Increased, not taken away. A rumour had been circulated that he intended to withdraw from the contest. That he wished to publicly contradict. He was going to the poll.— (Applause.) He thanked the audience for a patient hearing.— (Loud applause.) Questions. Asked if he was In favour of the abolition of the totallsator, the candidate said he was. He did not believe in gambling in any shape or form. He would not believe in taking the duty off whisky and tobacco. He was not a single-taxer altogether and considered that luxuries should help the land values to bear the burden. He did not believe in the Bible being read in the schools. Certain passages required special explanation and he did not think that every man was capable of interpreting the Scriptures.—(Applause.) Asked if he was in favour of an elective Legislative Council, Mr Stephens said that he was not. He considered that the Upper House should not have the power to thrust measures on the country or to block measures. The chamber should be nominated from men who had done good work In the field of politics. On the motion of Mr Menzles, seconded by Mr Brown, the candidate was accorded a hearty vote of thanks for his address.