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* STOOROOBA.
SIR JEN'KINT COLES 'AND MESSRS.
JAJIES AND PABCH.
Evcr-- seat in the old skating rink at Ka
punda »vas oceupicd on Monday evening,
when Sir Jcnldu Colc» and Meem. Jarnc*
and Paech addrcftsed tlic elceto». 'Die
.uayor (Mr. j. n. Jiitdiens) presided. On
the motion of Mr. ft. J. O'Dca. seconded
Uf Air. J. J. O'Dca, a hearty vole of thanks
wait accorded the recent nicmlicrs for their
services. Sir Jcnkin Cole* said they h»d
not retired, but hart been kicked out.
(laughter.) He and his colleague* had en
deavoured to fulfil every pledge madc-^-Mr.
James-said he was returned on certain pro
niites, and he bad stock to them, and Air.
i'acch averted Hint the representative-' tor
that district would have done far more
if the opportunity had been provided.
(Hear, hear.)
Sir Jenkin Coles asked tbe audience to
take into cohsideralion the 28} years' ser
vice he had rendered his constituency.
(Hear, hear.) At the last election he op
posed any alteration of the franchise fox
thc Legislative Council, and he had observ
ed that pledge. The time, however, had
aruen when a reduction might fairly bo
made. (Hear, hear.) Thc method pro
posed by the Price Government, however,
wax not the right onc. (Applause.) Is
was remarkably strange that M*. Glad
stone, while a member of Lord Russell's
Administration, in I860, lo*t a Reform Bill
in the House of Commons for precisely the
came reason as the present dissolution had
been brought about, but with this differ
ence—Mr. Gladstone proposed that the ba
sis of the valuation should be on the ren
tal valoe of the ground. That great states
man made a bie fight, probably the big
gest during his lifetime. Mr. Gladstone
tusde a otatemrat be believed lie lived to
rcsret. He eaid unless the Bill were car
ried r-n thc Lsinx of a rental value, the
Government would burn their boats, and
throw the Jiill up. In committee, however,
an amendment was moved that the basis
should be on the assessed value,- on thc
ground that that was the constitutional
principle. The amendment wa* carried by
a majority of 11. and the Government re
signed. Tbe House of Amiably had press
ed lor a rental (inaMncatxra. and the Coun
cil for an asMSiment franchise. Mr. Glad
stone, however, did not ask for a dissolu
tion. He resigned, and Mr. Disraeli, he be
lieved, repreaenting thc succeeding Govern
ment, carried a Reform Bill, nnd dished
Gladstone uid hi* friends. He did not
know whether that was prophetic or whe
ther sndi a thing was possible m this State.
— Important Measures- Blocks. —
He did not want 'Mr. Price to !t*ign. If
the Premier would drop bis stupid progres
mvc land tax.. wluch taxed n man out »f
everything he -bad. the Compulsory Repnr*
chaee and other similar Bills, they would
do really good work. He suggested that
Sir. Price should have retained his |-osiiion
when tlic Bill was rejected, liave carried
out thc business of the session, and then
taken anv action he thought fit. (Ap
plause.) Practically nothing liad been
done in Parliament. (Applause.)
Kven the Estimates had not been
passed. The Tramways Bill had been in
troduced, find that was about all. ? Inere
was the big Murray water* question to de
ckle. (Applause.) In that connection' tbe
weik of Mr. Glynn stood out frith singu
lar merit. (Hear, hear.) No man in tiie
Commonwealth had rendered such hercu
lean service in that direction. (Applause.)
He had worked like & lion in the prcpa
ratbn of the Bill. (Mr. Paecb— 'Yen;
and. where is it?') It woukl have been on
the table of the House if the dissolution
had not taken place. (Hear, hear.) ft
was difficult to forcctua, the result of delay
tlicrc, how it might affect the fate of tiic
Bill. (Applause.)
—The Real Cause.—
Wnoi had been the real obstruction in the
path if tfeCQcioent? They luul a section
in tbo Assembly who had declared that
the. acceptance of a £15 franchise wa* only
a stepping stone to thc abolition of the
Council. (Applause.) There wa* no com
promise in that, and little inducement for
the Council to give way. (Applause.) That
was not the spirit in which the member* of
the Council should liave been met. (Ap
plause./ He knew it had jarred with them.
The Council must be given credit for its
important fhare in the patBagc of women's
suffrage, and other liberal measures which
had liceu copied by other States. (Ap
plause)..
—Factories Regulations.—
The Legislative Council bad stirred up
public o|iinion tremendously in refusing to
pass the regulations in connection with the
Factories Act. That was a grave mistake,
because it pi evented the Act from having
any legal' effect. (Hear, hear.) Many ot
lii* friends might disagree with liim there,
but thc wage* paid by kodic of the facto
ries in Adelaide were simply disgraceful.
(Aiiplatve.) Thc mims would not keep
bodies together. The prices were nothing
short of shocking, and they could be easily
altered. A penny extra for a shirt was not
much for purchasers to pay, but a shilling
n dozen meant a lot to t-ie u:iforti-naU'
worker*. (Applause.) If he lost hi* elec
tion 20 times he would urge improved wages
tor thc employes in clothing factories.
(Hear, hear.) If thc factories would not
alter the conditions Parliament must and
would do so.
He was prepared f0 reduce thc Legislative
Council franchise to £13 aeBe&sed value, or.
in an alternative, an £18 rental value, with
Llie single vote, and the addition that every
leaseholder holding improvement* to thc
ralue of £50 *hould have a vole. Tlic mem
lierx of thc Council had been willinc to
r-nkc a big reduction provided it were re
ferred to their electors for approval. He
was certain the concession would have been
L-unlirmcd an n settlement of thc contro
rersy. (A Voice — ''And what woukl it have
**t?') Very little. (A Voice— 'Quite as
itvch it* an election.'-') That was one of
[he errors inexperienced men sometimes
tumbled into. (Hear. hear, and laughter.)
riisre was nothing to liave prevented the
referendum taking place at thc same time
is thc Federal elections. Only new booths
vould have licen neoawary, and they would
tot liave required anything like the number
tf attendants. Supposing the cost would
lave been £5.000? Wa* that not worth risk
ing to«ve £15,000 or £20,000? ('Ye*.') It
ivculd have saved the wretched hitter feel
ing lietwecn the two Houses. He did his
l*;t to prcrcnt the d'unolulion. Nobody
regretted it more than he did. (Loud ap
plause.)
— Mr.-Jamers Speech.—
Mr. James said the Council had nidca
i-eurcd to avoid the disaoiutiou by all i-o*-
siblc means. People had said that Cham
ber stood on a high and mighty iied?stul:
ijul thc position was that iU members «vcr-:
returned on certain pledges, aud liad slurk
10 them. (Applause.) The Council bad
[tffcred a fair compromise. (Hear. Le.ir )
He wa* glad the Labour Party had w.at
nit candidate*, because thc issue was a
rtxaight-out onc. If thc iieople thought
ihut party was thc best for the countrv, by
ill means let it rale. Backed up by the
Nondescript*, the Labour Party had done
ateolntdy nothing. . (Hear, hear.) Would
the . alteration of thc franchise raise thc
screw of one Kapunda employe? ('No.')
llie civil MTTvauU had appealed to h-m to
secure increased wages from Mr. Pricc.'of
the ground that they had not sufneient to
live on. .It was rotated.. (Hear, luir.)
If tlic Labour Party had the interest of
tbe workers at heart, why did it refmu Ut
(jive a living wage? ('Yes.') Tho Go
vernment was only humbugging, and tbe
Premier was shuffling. (Applause ; .Mr.
Price had said the minimum wage would
cost £40,000, and by goina through ll-c
paper* Mr. Cohen had shown that it would
be' only £17,000. Was that not shuffling?
He admired tho true working man. but
bad no time for the loafer. Thc Trcosacr
bad declared that the purpone of tbe n----
grcasiTC land tax was to burst up lf.n;c
estates. That was a dreadful thinj tu
nny Treasurer to admit. (Applause.) The
Government bad refused to purchase land,
awl he could not understand thc apmiil
for a progrenive tax. On the nest co,:^t
there unit any amount of land for H. K'
acre, per annum, and the rainfall was fu:.r
lv good. They had seen beautiful crops l»i k
from Port Lincoln, %nd the Government
should help lliwe settlers who went aw.iy
from popular centre*. (Hear, hear.) Ten
or 12 years ago he bought land for Hit
12/6, and even a* low ax £1 an acre. It
was eoinjt beggiug. The Government did
not step in then and say they wauted it.
Xow that superphosphates had incr*M*cd
the value of farming areas someliody i:l-c
wanted those properties. He did' not tc
llevc in the cry about people leaving the
State for want of land. What happened
was that people disposed of it, and ivi-nt
clwwuero to *ccura- cheaper. He liked
loyalty to thc State. That u why lie hid
stuck up for f apunda. For all the Go
vernment Eccnwd to care Victoria and
Nrw South Wale* could tike .is much
water from thr Murray as suited ???? m.
( \rpl.-nisp.) Th«»v did not have tn think
thrsc State; for die fact that the river was
ftturffowina i* 'places. ' Mr. Glvii
bad doae splendid service in cosne;ti6i
| with this question. (I fear, hear.)
There were places along the .Murray banks
! that could be utilized a* Rcnmurk liad
liecn. He was confident that the Bill drawn
I by 'Mr. Glynn woukl provide a fatisfnetory
solution of the controversy. ( Hear, hear.)
The* trouble in South Australia was than
i land* were not sufficiency advertised and
tbe facilities foe inspection were limited.
(Hear, hear.)
—Greatest National Work in the Work].—
The Transcontinental Railway would be
the biggest national work in the world.
Thc BuT had his heartiest support, and the
Government and thc Labour Party had
raised a bogey about the tender. Mr.
Moate had the money. TSir Jenkin Coles
—'He paid it. Mr. Paecn— 'I saw the re
ceipt.') Sir Jenkin Cotes, as one of the
directors of the Bank of Adelaide, ought
to know. Mr. Price- had shuffled over the
question, and would not givc-the Opposition
a straightout answer. The policy of the
Labour Party was to- nationalize every
thing. Why did not dir. Price admit that
they wanted the Government to build the
line? He had always advocated the Go
vernment lwilding the railway a* far as
thc Arltunga goldfields. Lapd settlement
would notgive tbe State an adequate popu-.
lation. They must look. to mineral deve
lopment. (Applanoc.) That liad been ne
glected. He hoped the Price Government
would not play dog-in-the^mangcr over the
business. Mr. Moat c vnM preimred to ol-
*crvc every provision in' thc Bill, to build
wagons and engines' n't both termini, and
that meant employment for. hundreds 'of
men. The option which thc Government
had secured, to complete the purchase of
the tramways at the end ot thc year would
he Kcriously interfered with by the dissolu
tion. Any Government that was returned
would have little time to put thc Bill
through, and it wonM be difficult to ad
vance the negotiations to that stage agnin.
(Applause.)
—A 'No-Surrender' Advocate.—
Mr. Paech said he had honestly tried to
fulfil his hustings pledges. They possessed
in tlic three old members men with almost
precisely the fame political beliefs, and a*
they were opposed by three direct Labour
candidates the duty of thc electors was
clear. -A Voice— 'Thc old members arc go
ing back.'') He hoped so. The Legislative
Council had given way more than be would
have done. He was not afraid to admit
that. The members of that Chamber had
reduced thc qualification from 10/ to II a
week, or from £35 to £18. That wa* a big
fturrender. He wa* a 'no-surrender' nan.
bui he liad to bow to public opinion in thc
natter. If the electors desired thc fran
chise altered they must have it. _ (Ap
pliuse.) The Council had made an impor
tant fomnromise bv redneins thc value
from £29 to £io. [A \ oice— 'Witu t«c
dual vote.*') No: certainly not. That was
psninst tbe xpirit of the Act altogether.
Why should a married person have prefe
tcni-e over a widow with half a dozen
d-iu?htcr* or sons? Husband and wife
should have the qualification before thev
were entitled to vote., Every man should
have a voice in the government of thc
country, but the men who paid thc piper
ought to have a say in the tune. (Ap
plause.) Had any spirit of compromise
been displayed by the Government or the
Labour Party? Absolutely none. If Uie
Premier had had his own way he would not
have had a dissolution. Jt wa* a wicked,
wanton waste. (Applause.) Day after day
during the recent, fcenon Parliament did
nothing. Tliere wa* work to do. but thc Go
vernment blocked it. (Hear, hear.) The
tramway*. Murray, and other big public
question* could have been discussed, and
lie publicly defied the Government
to prove that the Opposition was
to blame for thc obstruction.
With certain unfortunate exceptions,
cvsry industrious and thrifty man coujd
have n ??otc for the Legislative Council
The franchise cry was simply for election*
coring purpow*. It -was a big bogey.
—Tlic Railway. Land Settlement, and
Taxes.— .
The offer to construct the Transcontinental
liailn-ay »ris worth 50 franchise question*,
lie had seen thc receipt for CIOjOOO, and
the promoter wns prepared to put down
the 110.000 within 48- hour* of thc accc{--
tar.ee of the tender. . The Act allowed a
p-onth. Who would argue that that offer
?was not l»na tide? There were |myable
nutie* in the Northern .Territory,, and tl^j
railway would faciliate development. He
was with -hc project heart and mid. (Ap
plause.) Thc Compulsory Repurchase Bill
wn-- intended to take away from a mini
wh.it he tad honestly acquired. He believ
ed in the development of the Crown lands.
Ccinpukory rcpiirchafle might have to come
later on. liut it should conic slowly on the
line* of thc Victoriiin Act. Every transac
tion vhould be approved by lioth Hou.-cs.
(Applause.) lielween July. 19U5. and tli.
Mine month in 1906 over 400,000 acres liai
been offered to the Government. Jt w-.s
regrettable that owners of estates like We
rocata and Mount Tcmnleton .should hav j
decided, to leave tbe State. (Applause;}
Ptofcswor Lowrie had admitted that tlie r:
puiution of Ncnv Zealand lamb and mutton
was, dcriinuig for thc reason that the es
tates were being cut up. Taxation was
fi-alitcnin? the big owner*.' (AppL-iiw.)
Why Ii.k! the Anciis trustees engaged Pro
fessor Cti«t:incc? 'They all saw. that m
crew«i taN^tion wi» coming along. Ho
would not at present vote for heavier taxe*
in :iny shape or form. They were pot
needed wheu there were surpluses liko
C87.(KiO. His ]iolk-y was that everj* msui
Mho owned los than 1*3.000 worth of bind
sl-Giild. Im? exempted from the blessed in
come tax. Mr. Butler had informed Jiiiu
tluit th;-t would mean Hxcriticing £10^X»
of the revenue at the outside. After that
guarantee he was confident Hint a lot of
funnel would be prepared to pay a
inrthJDg extra land tax. in. preference tn
putting up with thc inconvenience of --en'i-
in; in return*. The imposition of another
fa*, thing would mean £30,000 additional
revenue. In connection with tbe present
crss he iras going to fight to. a finish.
(Applause.).
On the motion of Mr. H. Jqckwn, se
conded by Mr. H. T. Morris, the speaker*
wtre thanked for their 'plain, straightfor
ward speeches.'
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