THE GENERAL ELECTION

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10300, 3 November 1911, Page 1

THE GENERAL ELECTION

KAIAPOI SEAT. HON D. BUDDO AT KAIAPOI. FIRST MEETING ENTHUSIASTIC. The Hon D. Buddo, member for Kaiapoi, who is again contesting tho seat, opened his campaign at Kaiapoi last evening before a large audience. Mr A. Pearce, ex-Mayor, presided, in the absence of the Mayor, Mr 11. \Yylic. Mr Buddo spoke for an hour and a half. He outlined the effects of twenty years progress under a Liberal Administration, and the progressive proposals for the future. He compared the threadbare Opposition "policy" with the forward proposals of the Government ; dealt clearly with the campaign of misrepresentation directed against the present Administration, and defended the. financial operations of the country. He said that the Government's land policy was indicated by the existing land laws, and its value was proved by the prosperity of all those on the lar- ! . The difficulty was to acquire Ian:;. :>;id the Government was ready with what it believed to be the remedy. Mr Buddo dwelt on the social legislation of recent years, combated tho allegations or a falling population, and praised the defence system. He also announced himself as a supporter of a smaller majority than three-fifths on the licensing issues. The meeting enthusiastically carried a vote of confidence in Mr Buddo and the Government.

THE LIBERAL RECORD

On rising to speak Mr Buddo was warmly applauded. 110 said that the occasion was the seventh on which ho had asked for the suffrages of the electors of Kaiapoi, and he was pleased to note that in the past eighteen year 3 the womenfolk had taken an increasing interest in the politics of the country. The election, ho at as sure, would be marked by more acrimony than had been evident at any previous election. There were 'many evidences of it now, and he desired to controvert many of the innuendoes and misstatements made regarding the political issues of tho day. Ihere need be no fear, however, that ho won Id evince the slightest personal feeling in the triangular contest in the Kaiapoi electorate. (Applause.) Ho desired first to trace the political history of the dominion in the twentvone years of Liberal administration. 1* inancially Xo\y Zealand was in a- very sound position. The revenue last year Jiad been a record, running to over* ten millions. The exports had been twenty-one millions and the imports s©\euteen millions, while the volume of trade per hoad of population was £4O, the highest in the world. (Applause.) He desired, however, first to deal with klio contemptible insinuations of the other side. Tha leader of the Opposition, for instance, had said that the party ho represented was against everything in tlio nature of graft—an American term meaning the abstraction of public funds by the Administra. tlon - A y° un S Opposition candidate at \veJlingtoii also, referring to the raising of loaiiSj' had said that someone ha<l to get pickings. This assertion was an absolute absurdity. Certain commissions were paid for loans when they were underwritten, but no part of the raising of a kmn was handled by the Government. The candidate, in fact, had withdrawn his allegation later, stating that he did not suggest that any member of the Ministry was one penny the richer for what lie called "a job." The innuendoes had been made so freely, however, that it appeared a,s if the Opposition wanted to light its way into power by any course. First they raised the E. A. Smith casß; then the Knyvett case, which Mr Massey had -promised to take to the foot of the Throne. Those cases had been blown away like chaff. Then there wero the Hine charges and the aspersions cast on members of the Judiciary. These charges had gone ojf in smoke also.

Ihen on top of them had come the Mokau case, one of the most involved land transactions on record. In the early days ono Jones had taken a fiftyyear lease from the Natives., value;! at about 10s an ncre. Mo. niortgarxed it in London to ono Flowers, who oil his death left his interest to charities. Tho trustees had foreclosed on the mortgage and sold it to Hermann Lewis, who in turn approached a syndicate to relieve him of the property, and negotiations were entered into for tho Government to take it over. However, it was a problem that could not be tackled, as the Natives had to bo bought out, as well as the rights of the lessees, and there was a prospect of an ensuing lawsuit. In addition, land on purchase became Crown land, and ns such 25 per cent of ita vaiiie would have had to go to the New Plymouth Harbour Boarcl, and the genet al taxpayer would have had to bear tho burden. The Government, therefore, had agreed to vest the land in the chairman of the Native Land Board, and when it was roaded and cut up, to pivo a. little to a selector who did 'not hold a greater area than that allowed by law. it was a proper transaction for the Government to carry out, and the charges had gone off in smoke, and tho case only served to show how far tho muck-raker was prepared to go. The inconsistency of the Opposition was also evidenced by the case, inasmuch as it had urged that the Native shnold be given a free hand to deal with his own land, whilo it had turned round in the opposite direction as soon as the case was brought up.

THE COALITION BOGEY.

Another baseless allegation had been made by Mr James Allen in Southland when ho had said that Mr Massey long ago could have had a seat in the Minisand hinted that a junction was projected to light the Labour movement. That charge had been blown out by Mr Massey himself when ho had stated in the Honsa that he had not been approached by Sir Joseph Ward or any other member of the Ministry. That little matter had emanated fWm the same source a3 the others, and it was a question of how far the Opposition would go. From tho time of Mr Ballo-nce and Mr Secldon, notably in the Bun Tuck ease, there had been a continuous chain of innuendo and abuse. The Hon G. Fcwlds. in leaving the Ministry, had said that he had not seen any corruut prae-thes, and Mr Isitt had said that- there was >l.O corruption, no maladministration and no political graft, and that if there was it should have been exposed. It. was. in fact, a cowardly untruth. Mr T. F,._ Taylor had said virtually the same thiinr.

THE CONSEUVATIVE "POLICY." The Opposition had evolved a policy at. last, Mr 13uddo continued, and foremost in it was an elective Upper House. Everybody believed that r ■- farm was necessary, but to elect the Council at the ballot would bring about chaos, inasmuch as the Upper Mouse would be as strong as the Lower House. In his opinion, a portion should bo elected and a portion nominated, but where to draw tho lino was tho difficulty. The Opposition plu-t-

form also included reform of the Old Ago Pensions Act by a reduction of the age to sixty. However,, lio had forestalled the present Act providing pensions for widows when he had moved in 1896 to give pensions to widows with one or more children dependent on them irrespective of age. (Applause.) That amendment had been defeated by only four votes. ASSURED FINANCE. The old cry had been raised that the country was galloping to a deficit. The public debt in 1891 had been thirty-nine millions, now it was seventy-nine millions. The increased amount had been raised for railways, public buildings, laud for settlements, advances to settlers and workers and so on. The percentage of interestbearing debt wa.3 SO per cent and non-intercst-bearing only 13 per cent, so it might fairly be claimed that the borrowing policy was not inflicting any burdens on the taxpayer. (Applause.) Mr Buddo remarked that the inconsistencies of tlio Opposition wore also indicated by the vote on the motion of ft new Opposition member to cut down tho public works vote by £200,000. Only seven members/ all new r Opposition members, had voted for the reduction, and Mr Massey and the other Opposition leaders had voted for tho loan. Tho fact was that they .were continually urging the expenditure of enormous sums on railways and they did not dare to vote against loans for tho purpose. 'The five million loan had been freely criticised. it had been floated at £9B 10s, cost £3 lis OJd per cent, and the net proceeds were £96 6s Id. The Queensland loan of two millions, floated at the same time, had been floated at £97 10s and cost £3 lis 94d per cent, while the net proceeds had been £94 19s sd. Tho New Zealand loan, therefore, had been raised on much more favourable terms. In any case, the new system of preaudit every year would give tho public every item of tho public expenditure, even down to the amount spent on oflicial visitors, regarding which a great fuss had been made. Tho public wore entitled to know how every penny was spent, and. coming from an authoritative source, it would do away with tho suggestions that there were corrupt practices. In 1910 the Government had put through a Sinking Fund Act to provide for tho complete repayment of tho public debt in seventy-five years: but the Opposition had voted against it on the ground that a corrupt Government, later on, might seize tho accumulated funds. Ho hold that the present age could only do the honest thing of providing a sinking fund, as it could not be responsible for the acts of its successors. (Appla use.) THE LAND QUESTION. Mr Bud-uo said that the Opposition twitted the Government with having no land policy. Tho land policy of tho Government was on the Statute Books. Tho Opposition advocated that the freehold should be jjiven to everyone, yet all tho settlers on Crown leaseholds seemed to be very happy and prosperous under present conditions. The serious problem was to find land for all those who desired Crown leaseholds. Last year tharo wore 13,375 applicants who went to tho ballot, and there wore only 1812 allotments, leaving 11,563 disappointed applicants. Assuming that many of those applicants were in more thaw one ballot, and reducing tho number by 75 per cent, they still had about 3000 persons who stiil Avanted laud. With a population increasing at tho rate of 20,000 per annum, it was evident there would alwaj's be a very large 'number of persons desiring to o 0 on the land. In a country such as New Zealand, whose principal resources w ere in the land, it was inevitable that tho demand for land would increase, and at the same timo it would become increasingly difficult to provide land to meet tho demand. Recently tho member for flutha moved in the House for the reduction of ail amount in the Estimates to indicate that the ballot system was wrong. Practically the whole of the Opposition voted for the motion, but there was no proposal for anything to tako tho plac-j of the ballot. If peoplo wanted to take up land Avithout going to the ba'lot there was plenty to be had from tho Land Boards. There would be no chance for tho poor man, however, if he had no option but to go to auction. The speaker knew of cases in which tenderers for school reserves offered far more than the land was worth, and ?übsequently asked for a reduction of rent. There was at pro-s-eat about 4,0u(),000 acres of Crown laud available for settlement and only 6(itj,9Go acres of that was first-class land. If the primary industries of New Zealand were to bo kept up to their full productive capacity it would be necessary to amend tho present system under which the Government acquired land. Under present conditions tho Land Purchase Board was tinding it increasingly difficult to buy land at a prico which would permit of its being occupied with a fair chance of settlers making a decent living. Lubt year the total value of land purchased was £291,000, while purchases could have been made up to £500,000 or more, had the land been available at a reasonable price. The working of tho compulsory purchase clause of the Land for Settlements Act had not been entirely satisfactory, and tile speaker considered that tho timo had come when the provision for a. payment of 10 per cent over and above valuation, when the Government took land compulsoriiy, should bo excised. It would bo necessary to take very drastic measures to acquire the land at its full value, but without a 10 per cent loading which had to bo borne by the settlers. (Applause.) The Opposition had in every possible way impeded progress in land settlement. Tho Opposition to-day proclaimed itself against re-aggregation of land, but its professions did not work out in practice. Last session a clause in a. Biil which sought to prevent re-aggre-gation of Native land leaseholds was opposed by tho Opposition. Tho speaker went on to quote Mr C. A. C. Hardy's statement that tho Fyvie Estato was well worth tho price- the Government jjp.id for it. In regard to Native lands, tho Opposition first said thero were 4,000,000 acres lying idle, and then said tho area was 6,000,000 acres. A recent return showed the acreage to be about 3,000,000, of which only about 1,000,009 acres was available for settlement. LABOUIi, LEG!SLATION. Tho present Administration was proud to bo styled a Liberal and Labour Government, and it had not relaxed its efforts on the part of the Avorkej's. During the last two years the measures passed included tho "Workers Dwellings Act, the Stone Quarries Act, amendments to the Factories, Coal Mines, Conciliation and Arbitration, Shops and Offices, and Tramways Acts, provision for the protection of matchmnmifftcturing workers, the establishment of the National Provident Fund, Advances to Workers Act, the Munij cipa). Corporations Amendment Act,

which put every borough on the electoral franchise basis, and the authorisation of tho construction of hydroelectrical Avorks. The speaker considered that the Arbitration Act should be amended in the direction of making the administration of the Arbitration Court less dependent upon strictly legal and technical considerations (Applause.) QUESTIONS OF TAXATION. The leader of the Opposition complained of the great increase of -taxation in the past five years, and the increase in the cost of living. If they took a comparison Avith tho Australian Commonwealth they would find that according to recently telegraphed figures, in the Commonwealth the Excise and Customs duty amounted to £2 18s 9Jd per head, while in N<?,av Zealand it Avas £2 'l6s 9id per head. New Zealand had a free breakfasttable, save in regard to dried fruits and a few condiments, and everywhere it was a principle of the taxation to tax luxuries and leave necessaries free. To maintain a good education system it was necessary to raise revenue by taxation to pay for it. In 190G the taxes produced £7,000,000, and in.'l9lo £9,000,000. There Avas an accompanying increase in population. Between 1906 and 1910 the railways expenditure rose by £700,000 per annum, but the railway reA r enue increased by £1,000,000. Tho increased postal expenditure Avas £350.000, 'out the increased revenue. was £700,000. The expenditure on old age pensions had increased by £IOB,OOO, on education by £210,000, on other objects by £200,000, and on all other departments by only some £400,000. It avas evident, therefore, that there had been nothing exti\Tvagant in the administration of the public money. (Applause.) THE " LOSS OF POPULATION " BOGEY. Mr Massov said that the very flower or Ncav Zealand's manhood Avas leaving for Australia. For the last ten-, year period, Now Zealand's population 1 had increased by 30 per cent, Canada's by 32.15 per cent, and Australia's by only 15.16 per cent. For a twentyyear period tho increases were: Ne,v Zealand 60.92 per cent. Canada 49.22 per cent and Australia 27.10 per cent. The speaker considered there was necessity for a comprehensive revision of the whole system of local government, providing an assured finance. (Applause.) THE LICENSING QUESTION. In regard to the liquor question, lie had been charged Avith not replying to a query as to whether he Avouid support the bare majority or not. lie. had received a letter on the subject on April 3 last, and had replied that lie would make his position on tho matter known when he came before the electors. A deputation subsequently Availed upon him in Kaiapoi, and made a request that he would state his position. He said that he felt it would be unwise to have nolicense carried an tho bare majority, as it Avas desirable to have a good weight of public opinion behind the movement. On September 1 tho Kaiapoi Prohibition Electoral Council Avircd to him, asking his position on the subject. He replied tha same day that he Avouid be pleased to ma.ko a full statement on the question as soon as Parliament adjourned. Ho thought the time had come When. it would be safe to go very near the hare majority. He did not favour tho bare majority. He know there Avero those who would liko it, and who would ho prepared to go in and win tho reform with it, even if they knew the position would be reversed at the next poll. He considered, however, that it would be necessary to have a .substantial majority if the no-license law wns to bo elfcetiA-elv administered. A 55 per cent majority would givo quite sufficient stability to the vote. A voice: Why didn't yo-u propose it in the House? Mr Buddo: It wns in the Bill already. A voice: Did you vote for the 5o per cent ? Mr Buddo : No ; because I Avas pledged to my constituents to support the three-fifths majority. DEFENCE ACT DEFENDED. As an old Volunteer, Avith twenty years' service, Mr Buddo said he agreed entirely Avith the now system of defence. The country had still to look to tho British Navy, but it had a duty to porlorm in internal defence, especially_ in vieAv of the proximity of Asiatic countries, whose millions might overflow in the evont of any mishap to the Navy at Home. Religious scruples should be respected, but training should he part of true citizenship. The annual training might, however, be reduced. PAST FAVOURS. Under a Liberal Administration, Mr Buddo continued, the land tax had been substituted for tho property tax, the farmer had been given State advances, lower railway freights, better marmots, improved grading, and other facilities. Similar benefits had been conferred on tho workers. However, the Government could not exist on a glorious past, and to progress it would liavo to drag the Opposition at its chariot Avheels. The Opposition had evolved a policy consisting of an elective Upper House. The Government, on tho othevr hand, promised among other things an amended Arbitration Act, a family land settlement system, on which families would be settled near railway lines and given employment on public works. Native lands, also, would be included in tho scheme. There would be farmers' co-operative banks, an extension of tho facilities for obtaining land for settlements, encouragement to tho iron and steel industry, State notes—(applause)—experimental farms, for which probably no district was more suited than North Canterbury, and a vigorous policy of hydro-electric development. A commission on unemployment was also to bo sot up to bring work and Avorkcrs together. Hand-in-hand with tbeso reforms, the Government was determined to maintain an assured finance. He reminded his heaters that Australia, with its Labour Government, Avas without many of the most valued possessions of New Zealand. It had no State coal depots, no Public Trust Ofiice, no assistance in maternity, no national endowments for primary education, no adult suffrage in municipal government, mi direct election of Hospital and Charitable Aid Boards, no workers' homos, and no superannuation of teachers and railway servants. The Government of which he was a member had been definitely progressive in tho interests of the farmers, the industrial portion of the community and tho workers, and had never departed from its original statement, that it was distinctly n Liberal and Labour Government. Ho had been ' associated Avith tho public work nf the district for twenty years, and all local bodies, and he claimed thai hp was as well qualified as anybody to know what was in tho best interests of the connirv. It was gratifying to know (hat lie was the third Minister that Kainnoi had given to Parliament, and he regarded it as a compliment to tho electorate as much as to himself. ( \ppl.iuse.) THANKS AND CONFIDENCE.

Tu rer>ly to questions Mr Buddo said that he vat? strongly in favour of a universal Saturday bolt-imljdflZ' He

was not in favour of abolishing the duty on butter, Hour and. wheat. The farmer should he given a fair deal, and there was no need to remove the duty because once in ten years a little butter came 'in from Australia. In any case, Australia imposed a duty of £2 10s as against £1 in New Zealand. H* 1 was all for protection while other countries had their tariff walls. He was not in favour of giving preference at the land ballot to native-born applicants. Great Britain had not imposed any restrictions on colonials and ail along had cradled the dominion, Avatched it with a navy and helped it with money, and it could not shut out anybody from the Homeland. He would support a. 55-45 majority on tho liquor question. Mr G. Bradley proposed and Mr S. llinaldi seconded a vote of thanks to the candidate. Mr R. Borland moved a vote of confidence in the Government and Mr Buddo, and Mr L. Giles seconded the amendment. The mover of the motion agreed to withdraw his proposition in favour of Mr Bradley's, and' tho vote of confidence was passed by acclamation Avithout dissent. THE AVON SEAT. WITHDRAWAL OF MR W. J. WALTER. A meeting of Mr W." J. Walter's executive committee was held last night, at which' the candidate announced his intention of withdrawing from the. contest. Mr Walter explained that when- he Avas asked to contest the seat he did so on the assumption that he would i have the support of a number of persons Avho had since indicated that they could not work for him on account of his views on tho licensing question and his opposition to the totalisator. Under the circumstances he had decided to ask his committee to release him. A long discussion ensued, in the course of Avhieh members of the committee, avlio Avero themselves supporters of the three-fifths majority, urged Mr Walter to reconsider his decision. They stated that they were prepared to sink tho licensing question, and tiiey thought that, despite his adherence to tiie bare majority, he had a good chance of winning tho election. Mr Walter, hoAvever, was not to be persuaded, and the committee had no alternative but to accept his Avithdrawal. Some discussion then ensued as to the possibility of getting another candidate to step into tho breach, and various names were mentioned, but no decision was arrived at.