THE KAIPARA SEAT.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 273, 17 November 1922, Page 7

THE KAIPARA SEAT.

'[ MR. HORXBLOW AT PAPAROA. a PAPAROA, this day. - Mr. R. E. Hornblow, Liberal candidate t for Kaipara, addressed electors in the i- Drill Hall on Wednesday night and held a the. attention of Hie meetinf; well for -1 two and a-half hours. Mr. H. H. -1 Sutherland, the riding councillor, pre--1 j sided. ] The speaker said he represented the • I Liberal-Labour party, and said he was I contesting the election on the friendliest o;terms with his opponent. He was keen' - to help the district whether in or out J -jof politics. He said the Liberal party; c j had given Xew Zealand one man ono I vote, old age pensions, cheap money for '. c settlers, provided facilities to the man j with small capital, and secured holdings 1 I so that many once in struggling eircum- j c I stances were now possessing competency. ! f i The speaker said he had no time for tho I :. i big capitalist or the Red Fed, but aimed ' j' at a happy medium, duly considering all s phases of political life. y\ Mr. Hornblow proceeded with a strong -; indictment of the Government policy and f j administration. Mr. Massey had criti- j II cised the borrowing policy of his prede- I Jcessors, but under bis administration the f! national debt had piled up to | fj £220,000,000. When Hiev took ollice in j 3 ! 1012 it stood at £84,000,000, and even if ; . I the sum spent for war purposes was de-: «I ducted the Government had increased the . c | public debt by -£60,000,000 during their J r I term. Interest and sinking fund on tbe cldebt now ran to £11,000,000 a year, and t ' Mr. Massey had taken authority to, . ] borrow an additional £7,000,000 last; V I session. Post office and telegraph rates ; .!and railway charges had doubled and; 5! the railways still made a loss. He stig-; [jlmatised the Waiuku railway as the! c : greatest scandal. The average cost of' 1 railway construction per mile was! ; £13,200, but this line had cost £10.600 I per mile. Though built in a time of j financial stringency it had five railway j stations in 12 miles. The heavy burden jof taxation and the maladministration 'I of the Government would drive 50 per [cent of the farmers off the land in three I years if the present party remained in j power. Tlie speaker quoted tbe platform cI of the New Zealand Farmers' L T nion, who j were awake to the position. The Govern--1 ment had not given them the assistance i they merited, and they must look elsee I where for a political party to safeguard . ; their interests. Mr. Hornblow considered ! I returned soldiers had not had fair treatj ment. Land had been sold to them at inflated values, and much of this land 1 could be thrown back on the Government. j No questions being asked, a vote of I thanks to the speaker was heartily carried.