Mr Fdwards at Parawai.

Thames Advertiser, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8595, 26 November 1896, Page 2

Mr Fdwards at Parawai.

Notwithstandinsr the wet evening a air number of voters assembled to hear Vlr Edwin Edwards, a candidate for the )hinemuri sti&t, express his views on jolitical matters. The chair wag occupied hy Mr Jno. .leid who claimed for tho speaker a fair hearing, Mr Edwards said, althoogh often a speaker on matters pertaining to local todies, he had recently only entered into the political arena, and in jthis his firdt jpeeeh before a Thames audience he lskpd tlip indulgence of bis hearers foi my slips ho wight nub, He bad already addressed several audiences in the Ohineranri electoral d'strict, and bac everywhere been received in a fait manner, and he had every faith he woulc be able to say the same of bp Parana experience. As to bis candidature hi had been asked by what right he hac come forward, and on what grounds hi based his claim for support. His righ was the right of auv person qualified a. an elector, and his claim was that ho hat served &n apprenticeship in minor publii matters, and ha considered he was no? competent to deal with the major or rapr. important political matters in the colony In every trade or profession a know fecjge of the business to be engaged ii was essential bflt pme pacp'e conslderec that there was no necessity for a fain ing before entering into an active poli t : cal life—to his mind a quite mistakei idcaand hethoughtthemoro a roancoulc show of paiticipaiion in local governing oiTiiirs the more be should bo considerec lit, for the responsible duties of a legisla (pp. ]{e hoped he should riot be con' sidered egptisticivl but to show thftt he well served lijs apprenticeship he would havo to go ipto piultifarious offirs■. he had held ii) the course of his resid unci? in Obinomuri, His first experience was obtained soroe Id years ago when be w.s elected member of the School Com mil tee which body he was connected wit! ploven years, fominepf which he acted o. 1 Kocrotsry and as that officer wi'he Chairman conducts pretty well nil the busi JIO3B he had ft splendid opportunity tc K ain ft thorough knowledge of th< working of the Education Act- Thor ho had been the Ohinerauri County Council's llrst clerk, an office held-for threi yoars, and he was afterwards electec member and Chairman. As clerk he hat occasion to go well into relations betwaai local bodies and the Govornment, and ii

that way had acquired much useful information. Farther he had been 8 member of the Licensing Committees, had held positions during the past six years

on 'bo Thames Harbour Board, Thames Hospital Board, aud had been Valuator o Gov;rnment under the Property Tax Assessment and the Advances to Stttlers* Acts. Besides this, as editor of a paper, it was his duty to leap in touch with the general politics of the colony; therefore he could claim to have ma'Ncula'ed for tho higher honoi rs of poll ics, aud his right to offer himself as a candidate at least could hardly be denied. HIS VIEWS.

The end and aim of all politicians should ba to the country-generally, and Id particularly look after the constituencies they are called upon to represent. Kaeh district had its particular industry, some agricultural, some pastoial, some manufacturing, othersj like? his own, mining, and a member of any one party should make the advancement of the particular industry be is connected with, h's own. particular charge, with the predominating idea ihst by so doing he is benefiting his constituents directly. Mining especially deserved to be well looked after, and seeing tho importance of the industry at this juncture the representatives for these northern districts should work all they know for its advancement. He would prove that Uhiuemnri in the past bad not been fairly treated, and figures he would quote could not be confuted. The district had been robbed of £120,000 per annum it was justly .entitled to for years. With a population of 9200peoplo in tho district, and putting the taxation at £6 los per head it bad paid to the CtiET solidated fund £62,000 per year, and the : ißtorn made by Government, including disbursements for educational wardens Court, cost of district post and telegraph department, proportion of cost of general administrative expenditore and grants and subsidies, interest on local public buildings, proportion of I , nt l orest pw head on the National

debt, and proportion of annual loss op railways, would not total more than £44,700, the difference between this and the £62,000 being the district's annual less. No grants or subsidies had beep made to the districts lor roads ant) bridges, as whatever money it bad had been obtained under the" Loan to Local Bodies Act." Now this was a terrible disease which demanded a cure. He should think for one thing the North Island goldfieldg were entitled to a subsidy on their go'd duty. In tbo South Is and there is no gold duty, but a rats is levied, and ou the amount of money thus received a subsidy is paid. The duty is certainly the fairest way of raising the money required for the industry. Local bodies in the district hail been maligned for the bad state of the roads and the want of tracks, but as bricks could not be made wihout straw so roads and tracks could not bo kept and made without money, To make restitution for past wrongs the Government should make up its mind tospendhoreat least £100,000 out of the million loan, I and by its means open np a new system of roads and tracks. A necessary work is a good dray road from Te Aroha to Katikati, via Thompson's track, and in the same category is a connection be* tween the Te Aroha district and Earanga* bake by a good road down the Waitawheta river, and the extension of the communication to Whangamata and Tairua is also needed, in fact the speaker said a reticulation of prospecting tracks should permeate the whole of the ranges. EDUCATION.

Mr Edwards expressed himself ia favor of the present system although its working could be thought .be 'considerably improved. The Committees and Education Boards as at present constituted were farcical, the former had no powers at a 1 and the latter were so elected that country schools had really no representation. The speaker then explained bis views as regards the substitution rf boards elected directly by the people. The details of this scheme have already appeared in oar co'umns. Tech* nical education he believed very strongly in, and considered in mining districts every school sbou'd have its laboratory and that teachers from the Schools of Mines shou'd pay peripatotic visits (hereto..

PBOIIIBITIOy. He was absolutely an anti-prohibi® tionisf. He did not think prohibition could be a success ; in fact he look round and saw that in places where it had been tried it did not prohibit. Mildura was.an example, and coming nearer home so was Clutba. Shut up hotels and sly-erog selling would prove the resu't. In small buildings out of sight the vile liquor smuggled in would do incalculable harm in itself, and its sellers under no restriction would intensify the evil by forcing its sale. The loss of revenue was .also an important phase of the question, Mr Edwards dealt with the matter at some length, using the same arguments as contained in a leaflet published at the Thames, UISCBLUKEOUS, He was a believer in the Electirc Executive, the Referendum and the Initia- : tive by the people, the latter being a law ; in force in Switzerland giving the people the right to make a law quite apart froia their Legislature it is the expressed wish of the majority. He also favored the Hare system of representation, and concluded his address by expressing an opinion that Wardens should be placed on the same status as Supreme Court Judges with the exception that their decisions could be appealed against in tho Supreme court,

AXSTFEBS TO QUESTIONS.

In reply lo question Mr Edwards said ho should if clocted strongly advocate the coroplelien of the Thames-Pacroa railway; lie would endeavour to see that illegitimate children Were placed on the same footing as children born, in wedlock as regards property rights ; ho was not in favor of a tax on bicycles; he wag not in favor of religious instruction in State schoo'e; he would like to sec the last session's Mining Act repealed and an easily understood Act substituted, in which all the important clauses of the present various Acts could bo included; he was not aware by what ruht the Kauri limber Company held many of their lands, although he believed if a proper test was made it .would be found they had not a snap of the Angers' worth of : ighfc to some on this peninsula; he thought a six hours shift quite long onongh for battery hands, and was quite in faTor of debentures issued and redeemable in the colony* YOTB. A vote of thanks and confidence was accorded the candidate, an amendment for thanks only findine but three supportcrSi A number of peop cin thq room did notTotu at all,