ELECTION NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5713, 4 November 1896, Page 2

ELECTION NOTES.

The Hon Major Steward has been very ill since the close of the Bession, and this fact accounts for his delay in mooting the electors j but though his opponents have been busy in the Waitaki electorate, the Major is said to be certain of re-election.

"Wo must stand by the eight hours system," said the Premier at Petone, emphaticaUiy.. "We must keep it on the Status Book, because I fear unless that is done there will bo an invasion of that grand principle." This is one of the questions that the average Conservative candidate thinks ought to be left to mutual arrangement between employers and employed.

"Wellington People is informed that the Premier on two occasions urged on his 1 party in caucus the importance of passing the Second Ballot Bill. Most membere were in such a flurry to get back to their constituencies, however, that they refused to retain the measure on the Order Paper. The irony of fate lies in the fact that Keniesis will probably overtake the very members who were chiefly instrumental in the measure being slaughtered.

The following direct appeal is from an address delivered at Ashburton by Mr M'Keague, a Liberal candidate: — "Farmera, •who are your friends? The Liberals or the Conservatives P Will you not vote for the Liberal Party which has so materially improved your position, lightened your taxation, and, for the. first time in the history of the colony, made it easy for your sons and doughters to marry and make happy homes for themselves."

The Oiago Daily Times remarks aB "a notable fact that the three Ministerial candidates for Dunedin are all opposed to the Elective Executive project, which, according to the Ministerial Lyltelton Times, is one of the imperative needs of the hour." This only proves that the question of Elective Executive is not a party one, and that supporters of the Liberal Party are not the blind, dumb and servile crowd that they are sometimes represented to be. It is equally "notable" that nearly all the Ministerial candidates in Canterbury are warm supporters of the Elective Executive Bill, while quite a number of Opposition candidates in this part of the colony have declared themselves opposed to it, since they have found that passing it would not involve the turning out of Mr Seddon.

Those electors who may have been misled by Oppositionist declarations that the present Government has been a sad sinner in tho matter of increasing the debt of the colony, would do well to ponder one aspect of the matter that ie apt to be lost Bight of. Speaking at Petone the other evening, tho Premier said : — " The total indebtedness of this colony is 42 millions. The Ballance Government and the Seddon Government are responsible for five millions of this for reproductive works. Who are responsible for the remainder ? The- Conservatives, and the Stout-Vogel Government—they are the people who have heaped this huge debt upon the people of this colony."

Mr Fraser, member for Wakatipu is (remarks a contemporary) one of the fairest Oppositionists in the House, although he sticks tolerably close to his party. Speaking to his constituents the other night, ho said he did not think that the Government would bo turned out, and he was not sure that he wanted them turned out. But he could see signs of a change coming. When that change did come he would not support any party which would reverse " the general scheme of progression." In all tho political history of New Zealand there never was such a mild Opposition (on the platform) as the present. Fancy an Oppositionist admitting that tho Government had been forwarding a " general scheme o£ s progression"— for that is what Mr Fraser's. words amount to.

Conservative speakers and writers all strenuously insist that the municipal franchise in New Zealand must not be' broadened, and they thus show their opposition to human rights and their devotion to the privileges of property. Mr A; H. Burton, a Radical candidate for Dunedin, has given a timely -reminder New Zealand lags behind on this important l question. He said :—" In municipal matters New Zealand was wofully behind* the rest of the world. They would not find iv the United Kingdom any such condition of things as exists in our cities. There the municipal franchise was not restricted as it was here, and no man had five votes against his neighbour's one. No such absurdity as tfcut could be found in England or Scotland, anct in the finest municipality in the world, that of the City of Glasgow, the constitution Was so democratic that not only did every ratepayer vote, but the holder of a small property paid a smaller proportion in rates than did the holder of a large property. That was the case in the most enlightened and goahead municipality in the world."

Candid Conservatives like Mr 'Arthur Rhodes confess that the Government Advances to Settlers Act has reduced the rate of interest to New Zealand farmers ■; others still attempt to make themselves believe that it is an invisible law and not Liberal legislation that has brought down the price of money. The Premier, speaking at Petone the other evening, said on this subject : — When the Government had promised to bring about the era of cheap money, the opponents had described this as Mr Seddon's " usual bombast " by which he sought to cajole the electors, and that it ■would never be more heard of. But the promise had been faithfully kept, and the Act placed on the Statute Book. Then their "opponents loudly declared that the scheme would result in disaster. The returns showed that the applications received were 4386, amounting to £1,643,909 ; that advances had b.;<sn made to 3188 applicants, amounting to £1,047,232 ; that of the number completed, the return of interest would be £67,400, giving a profit of £4100 per annum. Taking the cost of procuration, mortgage fees, reduction ot interest, &c, this meant a clear gain to the settlers of £14,877 per annum. This had not gone into the pockets of the "Fat Man," and the "Pat Man "felt very sore in consequence.