Mr W. White at Sydenham.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5054, 15 July 1884, Page 3

Mr W. White at Sydenham.

VOTE OF CONFIDENCE,

Last evening Mr William White, the late member for Sydenham and a candidate for re-election, addressed the electors in the Oddfellows' Hall, Colombo street. The large hall was crowded to an uncomfortable degree. Mr J. T. Brown occupied the chair, and briefly introduced the speaker.

Mr White, after dealing with a number •f personal matters, referred to

THE LAND TAX. He "was in favour of this now, as he always had been. (Cheers.) But he did not care about taxing a man's improvements. Taxing the land would have the effect of breaking up large blocks that were uncultivated. A return had recently been published in the Lyttelton Times, showing the number of people by whom land was held, from which it appeared that fifteen persons and eight companies each held estates of 50,000 acres and more. The Land tax would do away with these large holdings, of which the owners were making no use, except for speculative purposes. At the same time, he did not wish it to be supposed for a moment that he would advocate what was called confiscation. He was also of opinion that large tracts of land in Canterbury, which had been reserved, should be either sold or leased, and so be brought into cultivation. The extent of land which a man could hold should be limited to a certain number of acres, and in fixing the area the quality of the land, should be taken into consideration. He did not agree with Mr Garrick that the present depression had been caused by the farmers who had 100 acres wishing to obtain 150 ; the real cause, in his opinion, was that these men had given too much for the land in the first place, and being unable to pay for it, they had to contribute a higher rate of interest than they could afford. It would be an advantage to the Colony, and an inducement to persons to settle upon the land, if the Government would advance them the necessary capital. Money could be borrowed by the Colony at 4 per cent, and if it were lent to farmers at 5 per cent, the Government would make a profit of 1 per cent, and the settlers would be enabled to make their farms pay ; which it was impossible for them to do when they paid interest at the rate of 8 or 10 per cent. He was not a lover of the Property tax. In the first place it crippled local industries by taxing machinery. Another objection to the~tax was that people who were not well off placed a fictitious value upon their property, while others who held large properties or extensive merchandise placed a low value upon what they had, so as to avoid the tax. In saying that he considered a Land tax was the fairest that could be imposed, he was also of opinion that it would be impossible to adopt it, except in conjunction with an Income tax. While the former would reach the inhabitants of the country, the Income tax would fall upon the professional and the commercial men in towns. The Colonial Treasurer, in a recent speech at Hawera, said that he had reason to believe j that during the coming session an attempt would be made to do away with direct taxation. This he (Mr White) thought would be a mistake. The great advantage of direct taxation was that people knew what they were paying towards the expenses of the Colony. For instance : Did anyone present know what he was contributing towards the Customs duties ? With regard to EDtTCATIOX, He would not give his support to | any attempt to reduce the highest standard from the sixth to the fourth. (Cheers.) If returned, he would oppose any reduction in the standards; at the same time it was questionable whether we were not spending too much on Education, and whether the secondary education should be carried on as at present. How many of those at that meeting were deriving any benefit from the costly system of higher education ? There might bo two or three, and even those were paying j very dearly for what they received. When ! their children came to the sixth standard they had to be taken from school and put !to work. The pupils in the secondary schools were the children of gentlemen j who could well afford to pay for their education. (Cheers.) His opinion was that the cost of this branch of education could be reduced, and that there should be no fees. At present there were large reserves for secondary education, and if the high schools were abolished, these reserves could be devoted to the purposes of primary education. He also thought we could do without the present heavy expenditure on the Agricultural College at Lincoln — (cheers) — to which were also attached very large reserves. Referring to THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, He said he still held the opinion that this branch of the Legislature could be dispensed with altogether; failing this, the next best thing was to make it elective. He did not agree with his opponent, Mr Scott, that it should be elected by the landOwners, who would, of course, veto any

legislation affecting themselves. His idea was that, in the first place, the number of members should be reduced, that half of the Council should retire next year by being balloted out, the other half to remain in for five years, and then to retire by the same process. He would have two electorates — one for each Island — and at the elections the polling should be extended to 8 p.m. (Cheers.) In case of a dead-lock, the two Houses should meet together, and the votes of the majority be considered decisive. In reference to the question of

IMMIGRATION. The ..only class of persons we required were immigrants with money in their pockets — gentlemen who could take up land and give employment to hundreds of people who are here now, and unable to get a day's work. (Cheers.) When the immigration vote of .£200,000 was before the House he moved that it be struck out, but the motion was lost by 34 to 11. A subsequent amendment, reducing the amount to .6100,000, was also lost. He quoted from Hansard speeches delivered by him in the House when the immigration vote was under discussion in 1883. He now came to the question of

RAILWAY MANAGEMENT. Mr E. G. Wright and himself were the first to advocate the appointment of non - political Boards, which were now being demanded all over the Colony. There should be one Board for each Island ; they should have the control of the railways, and be responsible to Parliament in the same way that the Colonial Auditor was, being in no no respect subject to Government influence. They should make all appointments and fix the rates. Differential rates should be adopted in preference to any hard and fast scale. At present the rates were too high. While on this subject he would express his opinion that the present system of delivering goodß from the Christchurch railway station should be abolished, and every consignee should be able to take his goods away himself. The Government had no right to give a monopoly to one firm. (Cheers.) The Board of Management in Victoria, which had been referred to, had the power of constructing new lines. This he thought was a duty which should rest alone with the representatives of the people. (Cheers.) He was of opinion that LOCAL INDUSTRIES should be protected in every legitimate way, although it was possible to carry this principle a little too far. It should be borne in mind that in protecting local manufactures they increased the price of the article produced. (Cheers.) He did not wish it to be understood that he was opposed to protecting industries, for he believed in assisting them till they were fairly on foot. They would then have to be careful and not levy duties so as to favour large companies making excessive profits. (Cheers.) In this connection he quoted from Hansard his remarks on the subject of the use of the native timber in preference to importing jarrah for sleepers. He was in favour of doing away with pensions. He understood the Government intended to bring in a Hospital and Charitable Aid Bill. If it was on the same lines as Sir John Hall's Bill, introduced into the House two sessions ago, he would oppose it, as it included a rating system which would press unjustly upon such districts as Sydenham. These institutions should be supported out of the Consolidated Fund. He now came to the question of THE WEST COAST RAILWAY. (Cheers.) Had the Canterbury members thought fit to hang together, this line would have been commenced ere this. (Cheers.) He was afraid that the members from Canterbury would be so divided in opinion as to whether' the line should be constructed by a syndicate or by the Colony that the Government would have an excuse for saying, as they did before, that a company would make the line, whereas such a result might not take place. His own opinion was that if the railway would' pay a syndicate, it would pay the Government. (Cheers.) __ He had no faith in the syndicate scheme, and, before agreeing to it, every effort should be made by the Canterbury representatives to have the railway undertaken by the Colony. A number of questions were answered, and many were disallowed by the Chairman on the ground that they were of a personal nature. Mr Miller moved — " That this meeting, having heard the views of Mr White, thanks him for his address, and expresses a renewal of its confidence in him as representative of Sydenham." Mr Langdown seconded. Mr Hill, who was met with loud groans, moved a vote of thanks only. He endeavoured to address the meeting, but was unable to obtain a hearing. The amendment was seconded by Mr Farrow amidst great laughter and uproar. The original motion was carried by a very large majority, amidst loud cheers. A vote of thanks to the Chairman concluded the meeting.