THE ELECTIONS.

West Coast Times, Issue 10425, 2 December 1896, Page 2

THE ELECTIONS.

MB GRIMMOND AT THE THEATRE. Mr J. Grjmmond, one of the candidates, for the representation of this district addressed a public meeting in the Theati'e last evening. Mr'Johnßevan, who was voted to the chair, expressed the gratification he felt at being able to introduce Mr Grimmond to them. He was glad because it marked a revival in the interest in poli tical life. Mr G rim in v ii'l \v:> << well known to them all. He w;is one of themselves and had a stake and an interest in the district and consequently was thoroughly a representative man. There was no occasion to bespeak for Mr Grimmond a patient hearing because ihat was already assured. He was extremely *glad to see so many ladies present. It would be the first time the ladies in this district would have >an opportunity of recording their votes at a general assembly election. He had much pleasure in introducing Mr Grimraoud. Mr Grimmond said he came before them with considerable diffidence and reluctance. He had hoped that some one of greater ability than himself from another part of the colony or from this district would have come forward, but as there seemed no one who would come forward, finally he had decided to offer himself so that the people might have an opportunity of expressing an opinion through the ballot box on the present condition of affairs. Nine years ago, when he offered his .services to the electors, he was returned- Six years ago he contested the election with Mr Seddon and on that occasion he was defeated. After the oleotions Mr Seddon was appointed Minister for Mines, and he hailed that appointment with pleasure because, he thought that there would then be an opportunity of proving to the country what would result when a goldfield's member was placed in charge of the Mines Department. To his great regret very little had been done and Mr SeddOii soon gave up the portfolio of Mines. Three years ago Mi' Seddon had just assumec 1 the Premiership and there Avas a feeling that he should be afforded an opportunity of strengthening his position and of proving hi* cipubilitiuj. ULg had been givnu

ihaj; ojjportuftifcy and he had misused it, the coiintry was nd better off and cdnsequently he appeared before them. I'HEE TRADE. He could tell them, first of all, that he was a freetrader. He had always been of opinion that the commodities required by the people should be purchasable at the lowest possible price and that Could never be obtained whilst heavy protective duties were imposed. When he was in the . House before, he, with only one member of the Liberal party, then in Opposition, the Hon. W.C. Smith, opposed the protective tariff of Sir Harry Atkitison, whilst Mr Seddon, with all the other members of the party, went over in a body to Sir Harry Atkinson and assisted him in increasing the burdens o£ the people. MINES ADMINISTRATION. He strongly condemned the recent raping laws. They had one principal Act and sevpval amendments most of which had been of a very slovenly character and extremely prejudicial to the best interests of the country. Take the Act passed last session which proposed to rob the owners of their freehold. They had several instances o£ how this would affect their own district. Take the Rangitoto for ex . ample. The owners of this freehold of 500 acres had spent £10.000 in improving the property and were now negotiating with another Company for the further development. And yet any one could at the present time claim the right to buy that property ab its surface value. The surface value of that land is less than 10s an acre, so for less than £250 outsiders could take away from them property which had cost £10,000. He also strongly condemned the apathetic manner in which the department had administered its affairs. Six years ago, I when contesting the election a watersupply for Back creek was a burning question. Mr Seddon then promised he would have a Merryweather engine to pnmp the water from the Hokitika river. Although the residents of that district -one of the largest and most important goldfields in the colony—had persistently 'agitated, for a water supply the Premier had always denied it to them. This was a sample of the neglect the Government had always displayed towards the mining industiy. Were he returned, which he felt sure he would be, and joiued an administration as Minister of Mines, he would see that the mining industry was looked after. He now came to the LAND LAWS. which in many cases were admirable. He gave every credit to the Hon. J. M'Eenzie for his endeavors to settle the people on the land, but this settlement was no ways in excess oi ; wliac had taken place under some of his predecessors. He was a strong upholder of |the 'freehold, and would give holders under the leasehold tenures an opportunity of acquiring the freehold wherever possible because he felt confident that nothing bound people more closely to the country. The Government claimed credit for having settled the people upon the large estates but recent disclosures uad not placed these in such a favorable light. Take the Cheviot as a sajnple. Thetrovernment extracted something ' like £7000 which they remitted to the real owoiers, the money lenders at Home. This estate had cost the country £600 for every settler placed on the land. He asked them what would be the result if they speut £600 in placing every settler in South Westland on the land. He had only instanced the best of these estates. "What would they say about the Pomohakas bought at an enormous cost from a friend of the Hon. John M'Kenzie, and which was so bad that the Government were compelled to evict several of the poor settlers who were unable to meet their engagements. Another matter in which the corruption of the present Government was most marked was that of the CO OPERATIVE WORKS. He fearlessly maintained that the works under this system were badly done and cost more than under any other system, whilst the mon received less. He ! had seen something of the roads made under this system in the South. They could not imagine a more niixad way of doing things. The Avorks were of all kinds according to whether the men were of the right color or not, or whether the men were reliable. They had inspectors of all kinds, also men of the proper color, who swelled up the cost. MONOPOLY. They had monopolies of all kinds. The Premier had something to say about laud ' monopolists, but he was a director of one of the largest land monopoly corporations in th 9 colony— The Assets Realisation Board — which the country had pledged itself very largely for. The Premier was not likely to have these large lands liquidated and settled upon because if that were done he would not be able to retain his position. He was also on another bigmonopolising institution — the AngloContinental syndicate. The Premier told them that his public duties would not interfere with his retention of this office, but he asked them whether they supposed this .would bo the case should occasion arise*. PUBLIC DEBT. The present Government had entered into power as a non-boirowiug Government but they had steadily increased the public debt, at first by indirect means and now they came out straight as borrowers although they still disguised it by calling it "aid to public works." The Government claimed that they had reduced the public debt per head, not a very great thing to boast about. They would all : know that the debt per head would do- , crease as tho»populatiou increased but so i'ar us iLw present Gcvemmeut -nrero wu- j 1

cerned they hatj acuity increased net & i cost per head since they came into office \h by nearly £2 for every person in the/" colony, the total amount of the increase being nearly five millions. In addition '> „ to increasing the debt they had also in- ' creased the taxation, having added £227,347 to the burdens of tie people ■" since they had been in qiSep. ,Amongsl other ways of increasing the , indebtedness of the pcqple wa§ through the BANKING LEGISLATION. They had first of all committed the cojony to liabilities, amounting to two millions, on the unsupparted statement of one man, who was merely acting as the agent for the institution to be benefited. They had told the House when introducing this matter that; they had thoroughly examined the position and were satisfied the amou at asked for was sufficiejii;. Subsequent investigations had proved that th.ere was no authority whatever for this statement and enormous sums had to be pledged in addition in the vain hope of being able to recover what had been so toolishly given away at first. LOCAL GOVERNMENT. For years the Ministry had promised to bring down a measure dealing with local government but those promises had never to be fulfilled. They had curtailed the revenues and the functions of the counties in order to get the spending power in thjeir.Q wn hands. At the present fcifrie, if: a fi'ie pound note's worth of work had been done they did it upde,r their cooperative system, with an inspector or two. Men could not get work under this system unless they were of the right color ; otherwise they had to go to the police office and ask for work. A conference of the County Councils wds held in Wellington, chiefly with the object of discussing the Local Government Bill, but/ the Government would not let them see it and at the present time the Bill seemed no nearer getting, even a discussioii in the House than it was years ago.

OLD AOE PENSIONS. Mr Seddon, when here, had said a great deal about the Old Age Pension scheme, but his actions in the House proved he was,n.ot sincere. When Sir Harry Atkinson brought forward an Old Age Pension scheme, many ago,' the Premier was amongst those that opposed it and his present actions proved he was not sincere, whe'il he found the House was likely to take the matter np seriously he abandon,ec| it and though Mr Russell, the member for Riccartou, tried to press it forward he tfas prevented from doing so. There could be no doubt the Premier 1 was "tiot sincere about this scheme, his sole object being to use it in order to gain political support at the elections. He was convinced that one of the great requirements of the present day was TIIK REFERENDUM and withic an elective executive. The political questions chiefly agitating men's minds cpuld be settled by a direct appeal to the people. Aa a democrat he would strongly support this principle as he felt assured that wore the people given a direct voice the side issues which were arlo\ved to spring up would be kept out of the road and it would result in a batter class of Representatives and a purer administration. • HIS CANDIDATURE. Ho came before them as an Independent Liberal and opposed to the present Government for the reasons he had given. H6 would not be a dumb dog tied to any party or any Premier by a written promise of support but would support those \r\\o he considered were working in the best interests of the country. If returned, which he believed he would be, and he joined an administration as Minister for Mines, he would support a freehold tenure, improved Native land laws, an elective Upper House, the referendum and an elective executive, reduction of the National debt, loan bihs to be confirmed by ,the popular votd, reduction of taxatioii, Customs duties which retard tho settlement and welfare of the colony to be reduced or abolished, local Government to be simplified, and administration to Jbe conducted on sound, efficient and economical lines. As to his quahficattona they were already known to them. He did not claim to be a platform man but would be as efficient a representative as if he were one. Something had been said about the coniplefeion of the Hokitika-Grey railway. D iHng the time he represented the district the expenditure was £45,834 15s 10d' which included appropriations whilst Mr Bevan was their member; during the uext 3 years; when • Mr Seddon represented them, the expenditure was £36,185 15s 6d. Mr Seddon had been enabled to corapletejthe railway but it was because of the work previously performed. In coming before them he claimed the right of any elector fcbfceek id represent the people. It was the only way to maintain a heiijbhy public feeling If they wished to put. down the system of corruption and terrorism which had prevailed so long they would reborn their votes in his favor and- return "him at tlVc head of the poll on Friday. Mr Grimniohd* who bad been repeatedly applauded and frequently interrupted sat down amidst prolonged applause. QUESTIONS. Mr Hudson asked why Mi- Gjymriibp voted for putting 5s a lon'tfucoal hi i'B?7 or 1878. Mr Gritnmoita said he hevttr did vote. He was ndt in.the Hoxisb in 1877 or 1878. Mi- J. Williams— \\fas in favor of nr'oliibitioh ; would he' h& in favor of abolishing tfi c h§i'{^ r "jg Grimmond said his views on thiiTukl^ were contained in h& ftfflffiVp "dtf tft/ J& fereudum ; he thought many taxes should come off before the beer duty. Mr Willetts asked a numW of „„,.,. ,110ns m reference to in-o.^wLiny auU.

arge dairasjn reply to which Mr Grimmond saidihe Government had not spent . nearly So*' much money on prospecting as previous Governments ; he was opposed' ' to large areas unless they required a very heavy expenditure q'i money In reply to Mr Mandl he said former : Governments had spent much more money j in public wprks. on the .Coast than thb present Government ; he would not pledge himself to support any set of men nor" to jpin any particular coalition, he would be guided by what he thought.the best interests of the colony. In reply to Mr Hudson he said he was not aware that the Government had spent £37,000 on silver pine sleepers. Mr Hudson was a Govsrnment inspector and would properly know. In reply to Mr Mandl he said the Atkinson Government had declared themselves against the use of silver pine sleepers— he opposed that Government: CONFIDENCE VOTE, Rev. W. C.Wood proposed a votec£ thanks to Mr Grimmond for his speech and of confidence in him as a candidate for the represehsation of this district. He claimed his right to appear before them as a private citizen as well as a clergyman. He felt assured, after hearing Mr Grimmond, that they would h,aye no doubt as to his personal fitness. He considered he liad made a yery good speech. Mr Grimmond said he was not a good platform speaker, but he (Mr Wood) had heard, all the speake is in the House and could assure them Mr Grimmoud could more than hold his own. In every way he was a suitable representative. He had proved exceptional ability in public affairs and his private life was blameless. He could not understaud the reason for personal feeling in this contest. Mr Seddon's supporters claimed that he . had overwhelming voting power in this electorate. Mi- Grimmond had ;jive'n them an opportunity of proving their unbounded confidence in the ballot box on Friday. Dr Kendall seconded the vote. Mr Pollock opposed the moticn. Mr Grimmcid's speech was a tissue 1 df abuise. If they only gave Mr Seddon credit for live per cent of what he had done he would still have accomplished more than any other representative. Mr (irimmond did nothing whilst he was a member before. Of the vote for the Hokitika-Giey railway £76,000 was obtained by Mr Bevan. Mr Gcipiniond allowed a substantial vote to lapse. The railway would never have been finished but for 'Mr Seddon. The borrowed money referred to by Mr Grimmond was for. land settlement. Mr Grimmond called himself an Independent Liberal; which meant a trimmer, or, in other words, a rat. He would be very sorry indeed if Itlr Seddon was not returned. He was certain the good sense of the electors would show their appreciation of hi 3 services on Fri.

'day when they voted. Sow much did "the National Association give Mr Grimmond for coming forward. He would bid thbtn good- night. The Chairman said when he represented the district the boundaries did not go north of the town of Hokitika. Mr Pollock was all at sea with bis figures He thought it questionable taste for the Seddon worshippers' to behave as they- had done thateveniug, It would have beer, better to have said goodnight before coming ou the platform. Mr GrimmoudV candidature had done great good in causing a healthy public feeling. He regretted an attf mpt in some directions to prevent Mr Griinmoud getting fair play ; it was a bad cause which required to make such repeated interruptions. The motion was then put and carried on a show of hands, and cheers given for both candidates followed by a few groans. Mr Grimmond briefly returned thanks and moved the customary . vote to the chair.