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[ LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL" '
ELECTIONS. THE
SOUTH ESK SEAT.
CANDIDATURE OF MR. SHIELDS.
SCOTTSDALE, A pi ii 2.
Mr. Tasman Shields, who is opposing
the Hon. A. W. Loone for the South
Esk seat in the Legislative Council,
opened his campaign at Scottsdale to-night.
Mr'. Shields said that he offered no
apologies for his candidature. The South
Esk seat would become vacant by
effluxion of time, and, of course, it was
competent for any one possessing the
necessary qualifications, to offer his services
to the electors. It had been said
that he was opposing the retiring member
; (so he was, but the retiring member
was also opposing him. Once a
great Locarno vacant it was for the electors
to weigh the candidates in the balance,
and determine which, in the best
interests of the good government of the
State, should represent them. He was
a resident of Launceston, and to some
electors this might be regarded as a disadvantage
to his candidature, but if the
electors reflected they would realise that,'
after all, the boundary line which cut
the city out of the elector ate was only
a paper one, and the interests of the
city were closely bound up with the interests
of the South Esk division. _ He
offered his services in what he considered
to be the best interests of true
Liberalism, which was defined by Gladstone
as being the realisation of
liberty ; every person should, so far as
the State was concerned, have equal opportunities.
Protection should be afford
you all classes of the community, and,
above all, there should be something in
the way of continuity of policy; the
effect of frequent change was to cause
dislocation. He was not a member of
any political organisation, because, for
some years past he had contemplated
offering his services to the electors of
some division of the Legislative Council.
He considered that unless that Chamber
could justify itself as a house of review
it could not justify its existence, and for
it to be an effective house of review its
members should be free and untram
elled in their deliberations., He offered
no criticism as to political organisation,
for those electors holding Liberal views
not to organise would "be suicidal; nor
did he say that a member of a political
organisation could not be an unbiassed
member of the Legislative Council, but
he thought that, it would be better for
the members of that body to not only
claim that they were free of party politics,
but to be free of the organisations
behind them. He remarked that the
rules of the Liberal League did not provide
for the ear-marking of Liberals by
membership in this election, and the
league was not opposing him. He considered
that in the post the Council
had" been responsible, for checking and
retarding the growth of Liberalism. Sp
far as a large number of electors, were
concerned, it was regarded as associated
with the Liberal movement ; its conservatism
had the effect of during many
electors from time Liberalism, 'with
which they would otherwise be identity
fled. With, regard to the present political
situation, he felt that unless the
personnel of the Council was changed
Liberalism would never . gain that
strength to which its aims entitled jt
The candidate favoured a vigorous
policy of progress. It was not enough
to advocate developing the resources of
the State, but something should be'
done, and done as quickly as possible. If
a railway were regarded as. good sound
proposition it should be constructed, not
talked about. He believed that-iiu'l-i
I says should be constructed wherever
settlement would follow. He did not regard
direct returns from these undertakings
' as of paramount' iirip,ortliriclë;
tbc^indiiect.revenue, was á-'febund'íind
permanent'ndvH'ntngo'to, tho'$t¥t&J'Tlifr
tourist; traffic should be given'every''«"-*
couragement, and placed .undç;r,itlie control
of a Government, department.
Touching on industrial legislation,
unions, whether of employers or employ-
fees, should be compelled to deposit before
registration an amount of money
according to membership, and in case
of either party violating the terms of the
award, the money should be applied in
compensating the party injured. He
believed that if this were done the
awards would be fairly well observed:
Going hand in hand with closer settle
merit there should be a policy of settling
the people on the waste lands
of the State. He advocated the Crown
scrubbing, fencing, and grassing the
land-beforo-throwing it open for selection.
The cost of course, would be
added to the purchase price, and the
fact that the selector would almost immediately
be able to get some return
would be of incalculable advantage. So
far as harbours were concerned, he did
not pose as an expert, but he thought
that the more navigable harbours there
were in the State the better for the
State as a whole. The Game Protection
Acts were, in his opinion, acting un-
fairly as far as settlers were concerned.
Men were of more, importance than
kangaroos, and if elected he would fav-
our the repeal of the Acts, in the hope
of evolving more satisfactory legislation
giving protection to the settler. He
favoured the creation of fauna sanctuaries
in different parts of the State. I
If returned, he would endeavour to J
bring about a simplification and cheapening
of legal procedure. The machinery
Acts under which litigation was now
conducted were mouldy with age, and
in England and a most of the other
States had long since been abandoned.
The remedies afforded by courts of law
should be available to all classes of the
community. In concluding, Mr. Shields
said if he considered his own interests
he would not be a candidate, for the
Federal Parliament offered better opportunities
for advancement than the
Legislative Council, but he considered
that the future of Liberalism depended
upon the future actions of the Legis-
lative Council. The Council would have
to keep stop with the evolution of political
thought. Liberal measures would
receive his sympathetic support; revolutionary
ones his opposition. The burden
of Liberalism to-day in Tasmania
was the personnel of the Council. He
asked them to weigh and consider what
he had said, to put aside all personal
considerations, and when they went to
the poll, to vote for the candidate they
thought would best represent them and
the State generally.
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