POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 1210, 3 December 1919, Page 5

POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.

Mr E. SCOTT at ALEXANDRA.

There tu a fair act ndanee in the Town Hall on Friday evening to hear a political address from ->r Robert Scott, the Reform candidate for the Wakatipu electorate. The night was very Btormy, which no doubt affected the attendance," bat as the evening proceeded the numbers increased. Mr W. Black (mayor) presided. In opening the meeting the chairman said that it was unnecessary for him to introduce Mr Scott to an Alexandra audience. He had represented Otago Central for the past eleven years. During the past two years he (Mr Black) had as mayor ranch correspondence with Mr Scott on local public affairs, and he must testify that all requests and all - orrespondence had- received, prompt attention. He asked fo- Mr Scott the nsual fair and courteous hearing. Mr Scott oa rising to speak was greeted with applause. He said that he look-' ed back ou his eleven years as a representative for Otago Central with a good deal of satisfaction. la this period he had had the opportunity of assisting the progress and development of the district. He had also made many friends. In that time he had seen many changes and many happenings. Twenty-five years ago the great Liberal party had been responsible for much progressive legislation, bat latterly, the great Liberal Party had departed from its traditions, and was a* a result succeeded by the Massey Government. He denied that the Reform party was Tory, and claimed that it had put many great liberal measures oa the statute. Mr Scott dealt with the war effort of the Dominion and paid a tribute to the soldiers of New Zealand. Passing on to politics he traced the causes which lead up to the formation of the National Government. This government had come in for a great deal of criticism, some it possibly deserved, bit he wa< of the opinion that the National Government did not get the credit for what it had done. In justice to Sir Joseph Ward he_ would say that he did not think that Sir Joseph did any wrong ia leaving the National Government when he did. His departure might have been a bit hasty, but the contract had expired. He did think, however, that Sir Joseph Ward was to blame in turning down the overture? of the Reform party to make a National party. There h's« in existence in New Zealand, a revolutionary section, as for instance the present Parliamentary Labour representatives such as Holland, Semple, Frascr, M'Combs, and Walker. There was a danger that the Labour party might hold the balance of power aud exercise a dangeroas influence in the politics of the Dominion. He read extracts from speeches of Labour leaders to prove the danger. There were great problems of re-construction ahead of the country. The debt of the Dominion had now reached £200j000,000. Thi. was the day of electric power, add electric energy had to be made available for transit, industry, and domestic purposes. The recent legislation passed by the Reform party was more liberal than any passed by the Liberal party. These included Housing Act, Profiteering Act, Board of Trade Act, Mining Act, increases to ail kinds of pensions. Coal mine worker to-day works under better conditions than thpy ever did. Coal mining was, he could testify, a most depressing occupation, digging coal away down below the face of the earth. It was not an attractive occupation, and those who worked only on the face of the earth could have no conception of the unpleasantness of the work underground. Many things had been done to improve these conditions and make Hfe underground safer. Dealing with the cost of living, the speaker held that the problem was insolvable. He submitted statistics to show that the position in New Zealand was not as bad as in nio«t other countries. N.Z- sugar was cheaper than that of any other part of the world. Tho Hoard of Trade Act was a drastie measure to deal with profiteers. The Hoard had power to demand attendance of any person and penalties for profiteering included imprisonment. Dealing with the problem of the returned »oldiers, he claimed that the Repatriation Board was doing its best fur the returned men. He could assure every returned soldier that the Government would help every returned man who was also prepared to do his bit in helping himself. Touching on local matters he regretted that the new post ufEjce was not completed. The Manuherikia bridge is to be started almost iimmediately. The experimental farm at Galloway he hoped the Government would not lose sight of. He hoped, whatever Government was in power tho irrigation works in the district would be pushed on. Sir W. Fraser would soon be in the district for the purpose of giving his valedictory address, and he (Mr Scott) suggested that the mayor should make it his business to see Sir William in regard to these local affkivs. Dealing with the clauses dropped out of the recent mining amending act, he said the i-ltuses were dropped ont rather,than risk losing the whole bill. Thi?-whole mining law required revision in regard to the complications arising between mining and irrigation rights. It was suggested tliat a Commission be set up to g" into the whole matter and report un this very contentious question. It was a matter ut equity and justice between the users of the water, and requir-t-I careful consideration. Dealing with Mr Massey's policy, th* speaker claimed the Massey policy to be sane and proigressive. The scarcity of wheat was going to be a serious matter for the I > milnion and encouragement would require to be given to the fanner to induce him grow wheat. The educational system had b?en starved and it was propped to increase salaries to induce the ' bt*»t possible young men and women to enter the teaching profession. I[c was a;rai st the 4 months training proposed by Sir Ja§. Allen. He favoured one j month training and a camp in both the I North and South islands. The only way j |o deal with the threatened meat trust J t .. >nibiue was for the Government or tb« firmer to own the refrigerating stores and the ships to carry the produce home ! a id possibly have their own shops in the j oM country to market the produce. The !

speaker held that no settler in the black* blocks should be required to subsidise the postal department to got a reasonable postal service to their homes. la con* elusion the candidate hold that the Reform party Was out in tho interest of tho the wholo of the" Dominion. He appealed to his hoarors to see that their name was on the roll and record their voto to assist to return the present Government back to power, a Government that was able to make the people happy and independent. (Applause) Questions being invited : C. Murphy: Is the candidate in favour of nationalising the sugar industry?

Mr Scott: He did not see that such was- feasible as the raw material had io be imported. J. Arnott: Do you favour State aid to denominational schools ?

Candidate : No. Denominations desiring schools of their own must support such schools themselves.

C. Murphy asked if 6000 aere.s of Mount Pisa, intended for soldier settlements, had been locked up to the benefit of the Cromwell Pevelopment Party. Answer : The records do not chow any undertaking with the Cromwell Development party. This 0000 acre block has been reserved for fruit settlement and the matter will be fixed satisfactorily.

A. Kennedy suggested that as New Zealand oatmeal was now £27, the Government import oatmeal from Londonderry, the native place of Mr Massey, where it could bo purchased for £l7. (Laughter.) G. Hirers : Why was butter not released from the cool stores during the recent shortage?'

Answer : No butter left in stores to release. The quantity required for home consumption had beeu underestimated, and too much allowed to bo exported. A Davidson: 'Did tho candidate justify the payment of £310,000 to the butter producers ?

Answer: The butter producers - did no: get a- g<. d a price as the eheesa makers. The equalisation tai m >i- a class tax. The money being paid now, ought never • > havo been taat;; from them.

W. Hewitt : How many year* did the candidate suggest tor the military training ?

Answer : Probably require -1 years, but he did not favour excessive training. 11. Werner asked for the views of the candidate on tho question of prohibition. Answer, the question was now in the bauds of the people to deal with, aud was not a matter of private opinion. G. W. T. Campbell: Why not enforce th" clause as to tree planting on Galloway runs?

Answer : Tho clause had not been enforced because of the scarcity of labour and excessive cost of wire netting. The clause would be put into operation. Mr Scott in replying to several questions handed in stated —He still thought that water rights no longer required for mining should revert to the Crown. The elauses dropped out of the recent mining amendment act were cancelled by the Minister (Sir W. Frasor) and not by the committee. The elauses were not necessarily lost, only hung up—successful candidates at the ballot for Crown lauds should not be at liberty to sell for at least ton years, except under exceptional circumstances.—Ho hud no idea how land speculation could be stopped as regards freehold lands, Crown lands were different and could be dealt with.

A vote of thanks was moved by Mr G. Cam bell and seconded by Mr li. Ross ft'u carried with acclamation.

The meeting concluded witli a vote of thants to tho mayor for presiding.