MR REMINGTON'S MEETING AN MANGAMAHU.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLIII, Issue 15000, 1 June 1899, Page 2

MR REMINGTON'S MEETING AN MANGAMAHU.

j (Special to Chronicle.) j Mr Remington addressed the electors al the Mangamahu Hali on Saturday evening ' when, despite rain and cold, about 50 we« I present, of whom 9 were of the fair ses. | Mr George Allen, having been appointee j Chairman, sai'd^ he knew there was no oc casion to ask the meeting to be orderly, be j cause Mangamahu meetings were always ' orderly. Mr Remington said that, .though beater ai the election of 1896, he was proud to re T member that, after only eleven days' can I vass, ho had scored within 275 votes of Mi Hutchison, whom many considered tht strongest member of the Opposition. He (Mr R.) was therefore emboldened to come forward again j and, let what might be said to the contrary, he meant to go to the poll. He wished to make it .distinctly understood that, while he was a loyal member of tho Liberal party, he would not, under any circumstances, vote contrary to his conscience. He was not of that section of members who at the crack of a Government whip allowed themselves to be driven into la Ministerial lobby. (Applause.) i Respecting the Land Laws he pointed out that Mr Hutchison was reported to have said at a recent meeting thac no State land now could be bought. This was quite incorrect. The three forms of obtaining State laud were (1) Purchase (2) Lease witn Right of Purchase (3) Lease in Perpetuity. Any applicant could choose either of tne three. He (Mr R.) was a freeholder, and himself preferred freehold; and he could sco no reason why the lessees, of small grazing runs and Education Reserves snouid not a.so have light of purchase. He considered that the rough country — such as almost all land at present lor sale was — 640 acres ot so-called "first-class land" was not sufficient (Hear hear.) He would prefer to increase the limits from 640 acres of so-called "first-ciass" land to 1000, and from 2UOO acres of so-called "second-class" land to 3000. But ther must be a limit somewhere, and he noticed that the present law did not provide against a hum-shark buying up lands from those who had purchased tuem from Government. lt aad been done in scores of cases '20 years ago, and might be done just as easily 20 years heiice, uniess some iaw. was made to prevent it. (Applause.) Aa to the benefit of resumption by the State of private lands, the' Cheviot Block Was a sufficient instance. Sixty people resided on it some three years ago', and now' 2000 (Applause.) it is not fair to make comparisons between land sales now and (say) fifteen years ago. All the best lands have now been sold, whereas there are many more applicants now than then. Still it is a tact that • more State land was sold during the last two years than during any preceding four years. He believed that each Government had honestly tried to do its best us regarded the State lands," and the present Government would willingly amend the land laws if improvements could be suggested. As to Roads, he thougnt great blame was due somewhere - for the vile condition oi many of the roads in this neighbourhood. Roads* Many of the so-called Government "roads" were nothing but "diabolica tracks': ! (Great applause.) He considerec the men who were settling in the back parts oi this district, and still more the .women, deserved the greatest credit. (Applause.) The State had broken faith with the back settlers. Their holdings had been loaded with 5s or 7s '6d and acre for "roads," but all they, had had given then*, were those "diabolical tracks." It" is the duty of the Government-^ to see that the Parliament is furnished with the necessary information and to insist that the funds should be provided to fulfil its bargain with the backsettlers. No Opposition man could feel, or would speak, more strongly on this subject than he (Mr R.) would. (Cheers.) • Let the Government borrow the necessary money at 3£ per cent — as can legallj bo done — let the roads be made (12 feet widej to all occupied lands, and then turned over to the local bodies for maintenance. (Hear, Rear.) Or, let the local bodies be empowered to borrow at 3. per cent, and let the State make up the difference. (Applause.) ' As regards the recent State Valuation; no donbt in many cases the rating values of lands haH been' raised, but not in any caso of which he had heard, above then actual' value. ' Mr Hutchison had said that " This was- .an unfair, an unwarrantable statement. It was only reasonable that — other things being equal— political supporters should get the greater , number ot appointments. It had always been so with ail Governments, and always would be so. With regard to. Mr Hutchison's attack upon Mr MacKenzie, during his absence, with regard to the valuation of Mr Riddiford's land, Mr Remington explained the position, and referred those who might doubt lum to Hansard, p. 760 and p. 762. , As to the state of parties, to talk of Liberals and Conservatives was absurd. The real parties in New Zealand were the "Ins" and the "Outs." The "Ins" were likely to remain "In" because the "Outs" had no real policy. They were all leaders, and no followers. For instance, Mr Hutchison was n great believer in the Freehold, while Mr Rolteston upheld Perpetual Lease. . Mr Duthie said the Customs duties must be reduced, while, Mr Roileston said it was. not possible to reduce them. Even if the present Government should be turned out, th Opposition admits that it must carry on the present policy. For instance, though Captain Russell said ■ the cheap money would be a "ghastly failure," and asserts that it has raised the price of iand, he still proposes to continue the system. Mr Seddon hopes, if he remains in office to reduce interest to _ or eyen to 0 per cent., and to allow cheap money to be advanced on urban ond suburban lands. -As to the Old Age Pensions, whatever may be said of the system, "it has come to stay" ; a3 Captain' Russell, its strongest opponent, admits ; and he fuither says that the pensions ought to be 10s or 15s instead of 7s. "Captain Russell says the system is "pernicious," and ' yet he proposes to increase the pensions and to give them to every one over 65, whether rich or poor ; that is, that this "pernicious" system shall be miiltiLp'.ied six times! Hje (Mr Remington) is in favour of the Old, Age Pensions, ond thinks -_c proper way is to. watch the effect ; and, if necessary, to increase the payments to 10s a week. It had been said that the O.A.P.'s would add to the Charitable Aid expenditure. This was belied by the fact that in Dunedin alone £139 per month had been saved to the Charitable Aid Fund by the O.A. P's.. The workers undoubtedly had most' of the money, and surely people better off will not object to give the difference. (Hear, hear, and applause.) As to Land and. Income Taxes, it is true the proceeds from the Land Tax had not much increased, but those from the Income Tax had nearly doubled. Ifc was a just tax, as those having the largest incomes were best able to bear taxation. (Applause.) He (Mr Remington) was not in favour of increasing the Land Tax. With regard to the " Free Breakfast Table," that was a mere catch-term. Most of the constituents of the breakfast-table were free already. Ther was no duty on bread; butter, milk, porridge, bacon, eggs, etc., and the duty on tea would not come to more than a shilling a week for an average family. Respecting * the Surplus, he (Mr Remington) preferred to call it a "credit-bal-ance." In priv/atle business we Were always glad if we had a "credit balance," and sa we ought to be in. the State business. The Opposition promises, if put in power, to reduce taxation, and so abolish "credit balances:" No doubt this would c very nice, but at the end of a year the Opposition men would have to say, "We thought we could do it, but we find 'we can't." (Applause.) Regarding the Trung Railway, the necessary money ought to be borrowed and the I line ought to be completed to the timber.) forests at Waimarino within two years. Applause.) As it is, the £300,000 so far expended north of Manganoho is absolutely unproductive, and will be, till the line reaches Mangaweka. When the big loans were raised under the Public Works Act, no doubt there was much unnecessary, and injudicious expenditure ; and people were justified in insisting that further loans should not then be incuiTed. But circumstances have greatly changed during the last twenty years, and a loan sufiicient at least to" immediately complete the line as far as Waimarino ought to be "ear marked" for that purpose only. A general loan would be rushed for by other parts of the country and the Trunk Railway — the most important line in New Zealand— would again como .to a stop for want of funds, a— c completion of the line to the vast timber forests of Waimarino would be a profitable investment. (Applause.) Mr Remington then answered Questions

""* ' «<«— l — _«— __n r..iM«__M___r_| ' put by (1) Mr Frank Allen (2) Miss Watj kins, and. (3) Mr Robinson. " (I)— He (Mr R.) considered that Colonial Prohibition was the only possible solution Local Option was a mistxike. The result obtained by the vote of a bare majority would not be lasting,- and he was in iavour I oi the continuance of the three-fifths. ; I (2)— Ho was in favour .of rating on the • unimproved value for local purposes as well ' as for geneial. -j . I 3) — "One man one vote" for local taxa- ] tion is logical; but consideration should i bo given to those having large interests. It i j was his oivn experience that the larger men [ were generally fai to their smaller neigh- ; bours. (Applauss.) j Mr Robinson proposed a vote of thanks (to Mr Remington for his address. His own : : views tallied closely with Mr Remington's, :. and he was particuiariy pleased that he , (Mr Remington) was not a mere blind fol- : j lower of the Government. . The vote of Ihanks was carried with loud I acclamation. I Mr Remington acknowledged the compliment, and said he intended to visit Man-»a-I mahu again before the election. | In reply to a vote of thanks to the Chairman * iir An en said he hoped that, the Mangamahu people' would give Mr Hutchison and Mr Wilkie as kindly a hear, ing as they had given Mr ReminstoD. (Ap , plause.) 9 ' K This concluded the business. Mr [Remington was v_y weli received and frequently applauded.