Mr W. G. Bassett In the Opera House.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11729, 2 December 1905, Page 3

Mr W. G. Bassett In the Opera House.

Mr W. G. Bassett addressed the electors in the, Opera House last evening, when there was a sparse attendance, which, however, increased as the evening wore on. ilr G: Caiman occupied the chair, in the absence, through illness, of His Worship the Mayor. .-, -> Mr Bassett first traversed shortly sonio of- the points touched on in his previous speeches.. Dealing with . EDUCATION, be believed in tho maintenance of the present system, which while not perfect, was a magnificent one. and he would not be~a"partyto arty attempt ifo break it up. (Applause). But more should be done by the State, for technical education and every boy learning a trade should be compelled, as in Germany, to attend a technical school; and pass in at least two for-lmi-cal subjects affecting the trade he was learning before passing out of the educational system. (Applause.) Mr Bassp.tt detailed the advantages to be derived f r» m the adoption of such a course, and expressed the opinion that, the technical schools were not doing enough for girls in the direction of domestic .education and training, which was the more neglected by 'reason'" of the large numbers that i'«w found occupation m factories an-i shojis. Passing on to the question of

STATE AID to -denominational schools, he thought it would tend "to destroy our educational system, and he was quite opposed to it being granted to any private schools whatever. (Applause). He thought the time had arrived when tKe question of BIBLE READING IN SCHOOLS, should be settled satisfactorily once and for all, and this could be best dor<- iy means of tho referendum, which should set ont definite issues for voting upon. (Applause). He thought the advocates of E'ble reading; as a first step, should drp.w up and submit to the electors, a xc<ci Icok indicating the kind of lessons proposed. His personal view was that it was in the best interests of the nation that boys ?ii«i girls should have more knowledge <«f the Bible, wiiicli should ho taught in. all State Schools. (Applause). Re the election of members of 'education boards, he referred to the frequent complaints made that the franchise was tqo limited, | but to extend it a popular ?ntsis we aid be cumbersome and'eostlvjjwid he took the same exception to the Premier's proposal to -cut the districts up into warJs. He thought that .until it was shown that Iho present system was unsatisfactory , no change was needed. He... advocated the maintainance-'-of a thoroughly efficient .'.-.' VOLUNTEER FORCE, being of opinion that the spending of money on. harbour defences was extrava-

gance, and money should be spent in tlio building up of an intercolonial navy. He believed in

THE REFERENDUM as a moans of settling large questions which could not be well settled by Parliament, lie did not believe it was the "sheet anchor of the shuffler," pointingout that every candidate must necessarily differ on some questions from his supporters, and he thought it desirable that in such cases, (tnd also .when Parliament could not say exactly what were the wishes of the people, they should have the Referendum, but he believed that the initiative should rost with Parliament and not with the people. (Applause). Dealing with the question of majority representation, the various systems proposed all had defects, and tho only system he knew that gave anything like satisfaction was a series of elections, striking out tho last name evory time, but it would bo too expensive, and would make the electors so tired of it that tho iinal question would be settled by a very small number, no denied that he had been guilty of trimming on THE LIQUOR QUESTION, which charge had been laid against him by those who desired to prejudice his chances. He had not changed his position in any particular. (Applause-). He had been asked at Aramoho whether he favoured Piohibition or No-license, and said ho favoured no-license as provided for by law. (Applause). In reply to a further question, he had said he "was not in favour of colonial option, but favoured colonial no-license step by step, for the reason that if, under colonial option, one electorate carried no-license, it could not have it till tho whole colony 1 ad it. Further to carry colonial 7io-licensc by a threa -fifths majority would be to- force it on some districts that were not ready for it, which condition of things had actually obtained' in A re. erica. These wero his reasons for supporting local no-license in preference to colonial o]-.tio»i, as they could carry no law unless they had tho moral foreu. of tho people to back up tho police in putting it into effect. (Applause). Referring to a sub-leader which appeared in THE "HERALD." the previous evening, he said that the "Herald" had asked the ladies not to make tho mistake of imagining that m voting for ao-lifcn-so- they were voting for Me Basiwtt. Ho thought the level of women's intelligence was as high as that of men, and and ho thought it doing thorn little j credit to say that they knew no bottar than that. (Applause.) But if there were a solitary ono like that, then the "Herald" was correct. It had been said that it was not necessary to have a temperaanco jnau in the, House as the law was already sufficient, but this was a fallacy (applause) and they had to very carefully watch their interests, and they as a people might at any time be robbed of their right to control this traffic. The Government had brought down a proposal that the local option poll should bo taken only onco in nin-a years, winch would undo all the work of the No-License party. Applause.) The iniquitous clause 9 was not brought down by any man who had the interest of the people at heart. (Applause.) If it had not been for Tommy Taylor (applause) and others who had opposed it, they would all have been slaves to tho traffic. Therefore it was necessary to have temperance men in the House to see that no such retrogressiv© measures were passed. (Applause). Mr Bassett condemned the Government's scheme for WORKMEN'S HOMES, and thought workers should be able to borrow money on good security, and design and build their own houses. If the Government's schemo was put into operation, they would have .houses built to standard'designs, with "Richard Rex" over the door, and they did not want that in New Zealand. (Applause.) Mr Bassett declared his belief in sin ELECTIVE EXECUTIVE. Wh*»n Mr Seddon was defeated, which would bo very soon, Mr Massey would be sent ?o v . Would his first thought be for tho )>cdt way to select his colleagues, and v.uieh were tho best men to select? These considerations wore subordinated, tho different centres had to bo considered, as well as tho liquor, labour and other interests. Mr Bassett believed the best way would bo for tho whole House to settle the matter, which would give good and not madiocra mcci. { Applause j. Mr Bassett a* 30 f avowed an, ELECTIVE UPPER HOUSE, which now was largely tho creation of the Rijfbt Hon. Richard Seddon, who carefully studied his man's character, and only plucod him there if ho thought ho would support the legislation Richard Seddon incroduocd. B»t to allow the people to ek?ct th^ Upper House would be too costly, and the matter should I>© left to Parliament. (Applause). THE WANGANUI RIVER, as a national highway, should be in the hands of the Government, and tho steamers should be taken ovor, and the owner, Mr Hatriek, should be liberally compensated. (Applause.) He deserved every credit for his pluck and. enterprise, but he (Mr Bassstt) thought it in the best interest of the country and Wanganui that the Government should take the service over. (Applause). GENERAL. Mr Bassetfc then quoted figures in reference to expenditure on roads and bridges, contending that Westland had been better treated than any other part of the colony, and he said tho same feature obtained with regard to old ago pensions. Mr Bassett then dealt with THE PREMIER'S SPEECH delivered at Aramoho. He believed the Premier had only- one object in view in going- to Aramoho, a^id that was to effect a reconciliation in i)ie Liberal camp. He defended Sir Harry Atkinson's administration from the charges that had been mado against it by the Premier and combatted the arguments with respect to relief works and soup kitchens. Mr Bassett denied that* the Premier should! have the credit of giving tho franchise to women, as he had opposed it, when Sir John Hall first introduced the measure. Mr. Bassett then touched on workers' compensation, saying ; that though the principle was all right tht present law was a most unjust one. and threw responsibility on tho employer that | the State ought to bear. Employers should bo responsible to a certain point, and should protect the life and limb of their workmen, but beyond that point tho State should bear the burden. Mr Bassett then dealt with other matters touched on by the Premier, including Captain Russell's trip, argued in favour of a Civil Service Board, replied to the Premier's joke about tho "cuckoo," and protested against the establishment of State fire insurance.

Mr Bassett then thanked his audience for the hearing accorded him, and hoping soon to have an expression of their opinion that would place him. at the top o£ the potl, and after a statement with reference to Mr F. H. Haselden, particulars of which appear elsewhere, ' resumed his seat amid loud applause. After answering several questions,, on tho motion of Mr W. Bruce, seconded by Mr J. Brechin, a hearty vote of thanks was passed to Mr Bassett for his address, after which a vote of thanks to the chair was carried by acclamation, the meeting closing with cheers from a large section of the house for Mr Seddon.

Mr Hogan addresses the electors at St. John's School, Liverpool Street, on Monday evening, and at the Opera House on Tuesday evening. His executive committee meets this evening at 7 o'clock. ' Mr F. H. Haselden addressed an openair meeting of Durietown electors at the Flagstaff last evening, Mr Allan Lees presiding over an attendance of between 70 and 80. At the conclusion qf the address Mr Haselden received a vote of thanks. Mr Hogan will address the ladies of Wanganui on Tuesday afternoon in the Opera House at 3 o'clock. All cordially invited. Mr Willis's Central Committee met last night in Duigan's buildings. The meeting was largely attended, and the proceedings most enthusiastic. Upwards of a doocn new members joined. The reports from every quarter wore most encouraging. It was decided to hold a final meeting at 8 p.m. on Monday, when Mr Willis will address the members. All committee moil and friends of tho candidate are invited to bo present at Duigan's Buildings. On the same evening the Aramoho committee will also meet, and Mr Willis will address thorn also after leaving the town meeting. All interested are invited to bo present.