MR LOUGHREY AT LINWOOD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5989, 26 July 1887, Page 3

MR LOUGHREY AT LINWOOD.

"vote of Confidence.

Last evening Mr A. Loughrey, one of the candidates for the Linwood seat, spoke to the electore in the East Belt Oddfellows' Hall, which was crowded. Mr H. Toomer, Chairman of the Linwood Town Board, presided. On the -platform the following gentlemen occupied seats:— Messrs Flesher and Eeese (the other candidates), Borgh, Baynes (2), Jamieson, Mitchell, Olliver, Sutherland, J. Goodman, and Ward.

! The Chairman, after briefly explaining that the meeting hail been called to hear Mr Loughrey'e views oa the political questions of the day, asked that gentleman to give his addreas. j Mr A. Loughrey, who was received with. loud applause, spoke to the following effect : — He had never hitherto appeared on any political platform, as moat o f them knew, and had never taken any active part in public affairs. GENERAL VIEWS. Before ho touched upon the present topics of the day he would give a general | statement of his views. He thought the ' opinions of a candidate should be in accordance with the views of the suffrages of the electora which he was seeking. A representative was in honour bound to carry out '■ in integrity, and to the letter, the promises he made to his constituents on the platform. If a representative discovered that he could not support men and measures in accordance with the pledges he had given | them, he should resign. (Applause.) A representative should consult his constituents if he found it necessary to change his ! views. By his training and through his associations he was a Liberal. By this he would convey that if any questions arose which occasioned conflicting interests, he would support such measuree as would keep the interests of the masses fair I and straight rather than by supporting measures that would benefit the wealthy alone. For instance, if it was found necesEary to interfere with the Property tax, and that an increased sum should be raised by increasing that tax, he would support a measure for taxing the wealthy landholders rather than by extracting the tax from the holders of small properties. (Hear.) BORROWING. He was not in favour of further borrowing, unless for the purpose of completing works that had been already authorised by Parliament. During the past three or four years .£40,000 had been spent every year. Practically none of this borrowed money had been spent in Canterbury. The greater portion had been spent in the Auckland and Wellington districts, and a small part of it in the Otago district. They all knew that every thousand pounds that waß taken from Canterbury for the purpose of expenditure in other parts cf the Colony, waa taken from the capital that waß required here for trade and commerce. He would support aa much as he could, that a portion of the borrowed money should be spent in Canterbury. RETRENCHMENT AND ECONOMY. ' He. was in favour of retrenchment and economy. The Premier had said that the present Government were willing to greatly retrench the expenditure, and if elected he (Mr Loughrey) would support tbe Government's proposals. (Cheers.) He would not favour an all-round poll tax on the servants of the State, such, for instance, as the one which was introduced by the Atkinson Government in 1879. Retrenchment &hould be commenced by reducing the salaries of the higher officials, and should take place from the Governor downwards. EDUCATION. He would not support any proposal to reduce the expenditure on primary education that was likely to impair its efficiency. He looked upon the present system of education as the great lever by which the ''■ children of the masseß might obtain an in- i dependence, and those children who were I gifted with the higher abilities should ! aspire equally with the children of the wealthy classes t<vtho highest positions in j the State. (Applause.) He had had some practical experience in the working of the education system in thta Colony and in Victoria. He felt satisfied that considerable saving might be made in the departmental expenses without in any way impairing the efficiency of the system or reducing the salaries of the teachers. He was desirous of keeping the present educational system intact. INCIDENCE OF TAXATION. Our current revenue would have been insufficient for our current expenditure had j it not been for certain windfalls from the money falling into the Treasury from the conversion of loans. By this means the deficiency laßt year would have been \ .£250,000 instead of £50,000. This could not be expected next year. It was, therefore, necessary for whatever Government was in power to provide for an additional revenue of £300,000 by additional taxation, or by reducing the expenditure. He did not, however, think it possible for any Government to reduce the expenditure by such a large sum as .£300,000. He would not ask any Government to perform impossibilities. He thought that additional taxation could bo raised in such a way that we might undertake our burdens while at the same time we benefited ourselves. He would support any proposal which would tax such imports as could be, or were, manufactured in the Colony. (Loud applause.) The result of such a tax would benefit the manufacturers, aid the capitalist, and also benefit both the employer and the employee. An alteration should be made in the Customs Tariff, by which all those classes of goods, which were called luxuries, and were not the main objects of consumption, or the necessaries of life, should be taxed. By restoring the Property-tax to the original amount proposed by the Atkinson Government, in 1879, a considerable further addition, might be made to our revenue. These taxation proposals -would aid our revenue sufficiently to meet expenditure without resorting to that spendthrift policy introduced by the Atkinson-Hall Government. These proposals did not inflict an injustice on anyone. They did not touch the necessaries of life, such as tea and sugar. The tax on tea was 4d a pound, equal to an ad valorem duty of from 25 to 30 per cent. On sugar the tax was £d a pound, equal to an average ad valorem duty of 25 per cent. These figures were well within the mark. He would be no party to the further taxation of these commodities. (Applause.) He (the speaker) instanced the circumstance of the manager of one of our large foreign Companies established here. He gets a salary of JBIOOO or .£2OOO, and his family enjoy all the luxurieß of life. He does not pay an Income-tax, nor in many cases a Property-tax. The least that he could be asked in our present difficulties would be to contribute to the revenue for the luxuries he enjoys. Additional taxation would encourage local industries. Articles which could not be produced here should be increased to a much greater extent than those which can be manufactured here. (Applause.) The statistics of Canada and Victoria showed this. In Canada the industrial policy was called the native policy. Without an industrial policy we could not become a nation. The history of the United Stats 3 showed this, and so did the history of Victoria and Canada. He hoped the day was not far oft' when tbe history of New Zealand would also show it. (Applause.) SETTLEMENT OP THE LAND. We musb have settlement o£ the land, in order to provide a home market for our productions. These settlers will be our customers. "We will be their customers. If elected, he would not favour any proposal that allowed speculators 0> buy large blocks of land, and who only )>>^d the land for a rise. He would sn:>:< ■■■■■■ any propo6!'.l, whether by freehold leasehold, or by village' settlement.. ■ any Other nn.'nns by which the inn-it settlement of the land could l><- i. d. THE SIIDLAKD RAILWAY. It w.is pretty well-known t:i.-... through the efforts of the Canterbury lviMt-sfcuta-fcive.*, who were known as a TJnite-i Cantobury, of whom Mi- John Holmes 'was not the least energetic ' — (loud applause 5 "What about Mr Eeese ") — aided by the efforts of the Westland and Nelson repre- '

sentativss, Parliament was induced to agree to the construction of the East and West Coast Railway. (Cheers.) Parliament had also beers induced to make large grants of land, equal to 50 per cent on the cost of the construction of the lina. For agreeing to this, the Stout- Vogel Government had been severely censured, on the shallow grounds that they were giving away valuable lands which were available for settlement. Most of them knew that the land in many cases, although capable of employing people in mining, sawing, and milling pursuits, would take a large amount of money to develop its resources. Through the hostilities of the opponents of the line, and of many newspapers in Otago, it waß possible an interference might be cau3ed with the arrangements in connection with the Otago Central line. It was necessary that the representatives of Canterbury should be united. (Cheera.) This was shown by the treatment this Province had received in the past, and how her interests had been bo persistently ignored. (Applause.) A united Canterbury would be of great benefit to us. If elected as their representative he would sink all minor differences, and be one of a Canterbury party that would protect our ■ interests, and uphold the dignity of Canterbury in the future Parliament of New Zealand. (Loud applause.) Mr Loughrey was now willing to answer any questions the electors might put to him, and said he would speak more fully on the political questions at Ms future meetings.

In answer to questions, the candidate said he was in favour of giving a bounty to discoverers of valuable minerals, such as those already given by the Government in the. way of gold. He was not in favour of prohibition in the liquor traffic in New Zealand. He would support a Contagious Diseases Act. He believed in imposing als per cent ad valorem duty on imported goods. He was not in favour of the Upper House as now constituted, and did not believe in a nominated House. It should be as it was in Victoria, where he came from, viz., that the (Upper House should be elected, and that the term might be considerably longer than the House of Representatives, say for five years. The Upper House was absolutely essential to the proper working of affairs. He would, therefore, like to see the Upper House here elected. He was not in favour of reducing the standard of education to the fourth standard. ' Prom practical experience as master of the East Christchurch Educational district and a3 Inspector of Schools in Victoria, he believed that children should go to school at five years of age, and even under that. A child educated up to the sixth standard was able to take bis place in any British speaking community in the world. He did not believe in religious education in schools. He knew there were people here and in Victoria who objected to send their children to what they called godless schools. He thought an Income tax advisable, with an exemption up« to .£3OO, in addition to a Property-tax, above tho value of .£SOO. 2s 6d was not a sufficient day's pay for a working man. A fair day's pay should be given for a fair day's work. He would support Sir George Grey's Law Practitioners' Bill. Science had shown that where vaccination was practised there was a less death-rate than in those countries where vaccination was not practised. Many men, and intelligent men, too, did not believe m vaccination, yet science showed that it is necessary for the general welfare, and he would support compulsory vaccination. He had spoken to some of the Amuri gentlemen who intended to introduce Kaffirs, and he had told them that ho would stop them from coming here. They said that it was impossible to stop them from coming here, as they were British subjects. However, if elected he ■would prevent, if it were possible, the importation of Kaffira to this Colony. He would support a tax on the totalisator, and the proceeds should be devoted to charitable purposes. He was a believer in the defence of the Colony. All our principal ports could at any time be quickly manned by 3000 men. He thought the honorarium should be reduced, and would support any reduction, whatever it might be, in that direction. He would support a reduction of the memberß of the House by one third, and thought that such a reduction would be of benefit to' the country.

Mr L. Bergh was not in favour of according any candidate a vote of confidence, but would depart in this instance from his rule, as Linwood had such a man in Mr Loughrey, who was educated, honest, and would act faithfully and sincerely with his constituents. They would be honoured by returning such a man as Mr Loughrey as their representative. In Victoria Mr Loughrey had proved himself one of the ablest inspectors that Colony ever had. He had also gained a name for himself for his integrity and manliness, and as Captain of a Volunteer corps he had shown that he could be trusted, and that he would do his work fearlessly and faithfully. He would therefore a3k them to not only give Mr Loughrey a vote of thanks for his address, but a vote of confidence in him as their future representative in Parliament.

Mr John Jamieson, in seconding Mr Bergrh's vote, said that all knew Mr "Reese's views to their sorrow. He had been a resident of Christchurch for the last twelve years. He thought they were perfectly right in moving a vote of thanks and condence.

Mr Walker proposed and Mr Cleworth seconded an amendment—" That a vote of thanks be given to Mr Loughrey." The Chairman put the motion and amendment. Seven hands were held up for the latter, and a forest of hands were raised for the motion.

Mr Loughrey thanked his audience for the way they had listened to his maiden political speech, and for their vote of confidence. He would do his beat to keep Linwood in a prominent part in Parliament. He would carry out their wishes in in» tegrity. If he were to alter his opinions, he would consult them before he exercised any vote. (Hear, hear.) Mr Loughrey proposed a vote of thanks to Mr Toomer for presiding.

Mr D. Reese seconded this. He considered the Chairman had conducted the meeting in a proper manner. He had a high opinion of Mr Loughrey, whom he had known since almost he came to the Colony. He could sac in him a foeman worthy of his steel. No one could cay n, wrong word against Mr Loughrey. He had no political sins to account for, as he had no public career, He intended, however, to measure swords with him.

Three cheers were given for Mr Loughroy, and the meeting dispersed.