THE GENERAL ELECTIONS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2334, 28 October 1908, Page 6

THE GENERAL ELECTIONS.

THE GISBORNE SEAT

Mr. Geo. E. Ear-ton will address the electors at Matawhero this evening.

BAY OF PLENTY SEAT.

THE OPPOSITION CANDIDATE

Mr. J. B. Gow, who is contesting the Bav of Plenty seat in the Opposition interests, addressed a mooting of editors in the Rakauroa bchooiroom on Saturday evening. There was a good attendance; and the chairman (Mr. Frank Shaw) introduced the candidate in a brief speech. Mr. Gow one lied his remarks with a tribute, to Mr. W. Herries who, ho said had proved himself one of the foremost men in Parliament, .. and whose services as representative for the Bay of Plnty he wassorry to lose. Mr. Herries having decided to stand for Tauranga he (the speaker) -had decided to take up the Opposition cause. He wished, first or all, to ieipovo scino prevalent ideas, one of which was that the Government were the onlv Liberals in the country. He maintained th.it the Opposition had an equal’ right to tho name Liberal, and while admitting that both parties endeavored to promote tho wellfare of tho country, the Opposition methods were far” preferable to those of tho Government. The party in power had held office for so long that it had ceased to be democratic, and had become autocratic, as was proved by its treatment of the Upper House, a Hominee Chamber kept in existence by a professedly Liberal and democratic "party. ' The Opposition platform included reform of the Upper House in the direction of .making it responsible to the people. There was also a great need for reform m local government. This was admitted by the Government themselves, but although reform had been promised in the Governor’s Speech year after year, nothing had been done. The Government, careless of important matters, had wasted time _ in tailing and unnecessary legislation.. The .Public Works Statement, as now brought down every year, was quite unintelligible to the majority of the members, who were called upon to decide votes totalling thousands of pounds of public money in almost complete ignorance of the of the greater number of them. The Opposition advocated referring all these votes to the decision of prop-erly-equipped local governing bodies, thus leaving Parliament free to attend to more important matters. The speaker went on to protest against the predominance or South Islanders in Parliament, which was contrary to the relative importance of the two islands. This resulted in a great neglect of such large and rich districts as that of the Bay of Plenty, which was starved- in the matter of expenditure of public money, roads and railways being buillb at- a snail’s pace, whilst such extravagances as the ,Dunedin railway station and the Ofcira tunnel could easily have been otherwise- provided for. He -also thought the control of affairs had been too largely'in the hands of the towns which, not through any hostility of the country but in -ignorance of what was really beneficial, had introduced much legislation of a harmful nature, and had neglected the true interests of the country. Touching upon the' local question, Mr Gow said it was quite incorrect to suppose that the Opposition were acting against the interests of the workers. This was shown by the Advances to Workers Act, which was a measure suggested by the Opposition and 1 carried with, their assistance, and would in a large degree remedy the failure of the Governmnt’s attempt to establish homes for workers. In tariff matters, the candidate claimed the burden should be laid chiefly upon those best able to bear it, and luxuries should be taxed rather than necessaries. Instances of the injustice of the Government’s tariff were given ; boots were heavily taxd, while motor-cars for the rich were let in free, except, that, through the efforts of the Opposition, parts of motor-cars were now dutiable. On -silks, satins, and lace the duty was reduced, while upon hosiery, used by all, the tariff was raised. These things went to. show that tho Liberal party, while professing to be workng for tiny, people, were in reality more m sympathy with tho capitalistic class than the Opposition were. He also objected to the Second Ballot •Bill, which struck at the root of British liberty and freedom of speech, and showed how autocratic the Government had become. Even the subservient- Upper House cut out the “gag” clause, and he asked the free and indpendent electors to voice their opinion of it in a decided manner at the ballot box. Mr. Gow made some strong comments on the subject of land tenure, ..and announced himself as an out-and-out freeholder. He quoted some extracts from “Hamsard” to show that no less than five members of the present Cabinet' had proved themselves enemies of the freehold, thus disproving the Premier’s claim that the Government had not attacked it. He said that the people now had. their eyes open as to the real intentions of the party at present in power, who.were attacking and undermining the* security of aii title to land. Mr. McNab had openly stated h.is wish to see a Fair Kent Bill in operation, so that revaluation of all Crown leases would he provided for. The Land Bill of 1906 had proposed to alienate forever from the freehold 16,000,000 acres of Crown land, and the Government had succeeded in so placing 9,000,000 acres that mo settler would ever be able to make a permanent home on it. It was called an endowment in aid of education and ofd age pensions, but such am endowment was an equivocation. No other Department required an endowment, and the best possible endowment for any object iwas a free, prosperous, closely-settled farming community subject to taxation. The speaker did not wish to see the leasehold dome away with, as it was mecessary, in order to give every one a cbanc to get on the land, but it should be used as a steppingstone to the freehold, which was of vital interest to the community. The candidate thought' the Government very much to .blame for the present chaotic condition of the Native land laws, and considered that, having held power fo.r 17 years with large majorities, it was a standing disgrace to them that nothing hud been done to 'remedy the evil. He thought an explanation might be found in a story sometimes .related concerning the Native Minister, who had promised |}s siippprterisj whpH- spring

Parliament, that he would not overwork himself and roach an early grave as many others in public life had done. Mr. Carroll had kept his promise with advantage to himself, but disaster and disgrace to the caxiso .of progress in Native land affairs. A strong, energetic man was wanted to take hold of these things, and by -abolishing more than half the present Acts which lock up Maori land, and introducing some comprehensive and practical measure, open to genuine settlement the large areas now lying waste. The Native Land Commission had reported on 13,000,000 acres as available for settlement, but on examination it was found only about one-twentieth part of this was for sale, the balance being locked up for in indefinite period. Speaking on the roads and bridges question, Mr. Gow attacked the Government administration; and showed how little they held themselves bound by Parliament to execute certain works. During tho Ward Administration, £1,042,000 had been voted for roads and bridges, but only £671,000 spent; also last year the amount voted had been ■ underspent by £1 So,ooo, the balance being held over to strengthen the Government’s position prior To the general election. Not only was money actually voted, for the benefit of settlers ” not spent, but specious promises had been jtnade', which proved false' on examination. The Premier had promised to devote a quarter of a- million annually towards roads in the back blocks, in addition to the ordinary grants, but when looked into jt was found* that the real increase was only £BO,OOO, many roads,being transferred to the back blocks schedule which, should have been provided for out of the ordinary grant. The speaker said he was glad to be ablo to praise the Government for their work in the Education Department, but considered .there was still room for improvement. especially in the matter of providing better facilities for country people to obtain secondary education for their children, in which matter they were at present at a. serious disadvantage as compared with the resklents of the towns. He also thought that State-paid medical advice should be made available to back country settlers, who found it very difficult to obtain assistance in tbis direction. In conclusion, Mr. Gow appealed to the electors to support honesty and impartiality of administration, which was only to he secured by maintainv.ig the balance of parties more evenly than was at present the ease. Mr. Gow was frequently applauded, and attentively listened to throughout 'his address. No questions - were asked, and a vote of thanks to the speaker, also to the chair, closed the meeting.

Mr. J. B. Gow gave an address atthe Railway Camp,. Waikohu, yesterday. There was a very large attendance. Mr. Gow will speak at Waikohu to-night.