THE MARSDEN SEAT.

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

THE MARSDEN SEAT.

I MR. W. JUNES AT WHANGAREI. ! Mr. W. Jones, official Reform candidate, addressed a crowded meeting of the Marsden electors in the Whangarei Town Hall on Wednesday night, Mr. D. A. McLean (Mayor) presiding. Mr. Jones was accorded a very good hearing with the exception of one persistent j j interjector. Dealing with the question |of returned soldier settlement, Mr. | 'Jones claimed that those who had been j placed on high-priced land were doing: aH well as tihe average farmer, but ad- , mitted that where tney had taken up | unimproved land, some were not making I ! good. These men should be put to other : occupations by the Government. | PUBLIC WORKS. 1 With regard to public works lie was a strong believer in linking up the main I | railway lines already started so as to I i get some use for tn» money already j expended, but all branch lines should be I cut out where motor transit was likely Ito be a successful competitor. He said 1 that he knew (as chairman of the County | Council) that local bodies had experiI enced very good treatment at the hands ;of the Hon. Gordon Coates. At the 1 counties' conference two years ago, the | Main Roads' Bill had been practically ] turned down, but the Hon. Coates had [persisted in /his object, with the result! j that the Main Roads' Bill had become an | accomplished fact. In question of main- ; tenance and repair of main highways, he I ; was of opinion that one half cost should , be borne by Borough and County Councils. He referred in detail to the boards who are to control i the working of the Bill, and was of opinion that in time it would produce : one main road from one end of Xew j Zealand to the other. i Dealing with swamps and drainage ; works, he thought splendid work had . been done by the Massey Government. S Locally the drainage of tihe Hikurangi swamp would bring wealth to both ' county and borough. He was a strong i believer that in works of local importance the Government should come to lijrht with a pound for pound subsidy. The north ihad not had the benefit of royalties as compared to the SouJ.h. Island and that money should now be freely expended. j SECONDARY INDUSTRIES. I Speaking of secondary industries, Mr. Jones was in favour of starting these in : towns where possible, to provide for the I young people who drift to the centres. ] jHe referred more especially to the de--1 velopment of hydro-electric power j schemes. I Witfh regard to education he believed jin the fundamental principle of educai tion as carried out by the Massey Gov- ■ ernment, and would brook no interfer- i ence with secular education. He was in favour of secondary high schools, and the establishment of suitable hostels for! I country children. J STATE-OWNED SERVICES. j He was not in favour of State-owned ■ shipping, or Government granting sub- | sides to private enterprise. He was not In favour of starting any more State enterprises. They had a good example in uhe railways, which were losing heav- ■ ily. Constructional criticism was good I for the railways, which should be made Ito pay. He would willingly assist any i scheme brought forward to make them i P a yThe Meat Board had his entire sup- ! ■ port and he was in hopes that a Dairy | Pool would soon follow the Meat . Board had saved the farmers £580,000 | without calling upon the Government for a single penny. I The speaker dealt very briefly with the finance of the country stating when he ] returned three years hence he would be 1 able to tell uhem more about it. On the question of immigration, he did not think this should cease, but farmworkers should be encouraged for preference. In connection with proportional representation, he said, no scheme that had yet been brought forward appealed to him. but any sciheme that would give the people majority representation would I have his support. The group system was no good as it wiped out the personal j factor. j TAXES MUST BE REDUCED. I Taxation must be reduced, as it was strangling town and country. He was I pleased Mr. Massey had been able to | foreshadow further reductions. While in . favour of retrenchment, it should not be | carried to such a length as to cause uni employment. There were yet economies ! that could be carried out. He denied i that the Massey Government had been j too extravagant- They certainly had j made mistakes, but for honesty of pur- | pose they could not lie assailed. There I was no one in the Liberal party able to 1 lead in any shape or form. It had j ! dwindled away from the old Liberal j party, and was at present living on the laurels of men dead and gone. In reply to questions Mr. Jones said he did not favour increased facilities for divorce, was not in favour of legislaj tion of bookmakers, but on the question ,of increased totalisator permits, if any ! I further were granted, they should go to j 'country clubs, not to cities. (Applause.) jHe favoured compulsory superannuation i i with State assistance, to include nurses, las this would tend to reduce chari- | table aid. Parties enjoying this scheme i should contribute thereto. He stood as ' a freeholder, not a leaseholder. He was i against national insurance the same as i prevailed in England. He thought it | would have been better to put soldiers on | Crown lands, where they would get the j full benefit of their labours instead of j the Government purchasing high-priced ! lands for this purpose. He believed in , criticising injustice freely, but if it came |to a no-confidence motion he would vote | solidly for the party he represented. |On the motion of Colonel C. E. R. Mac- | kesy, seconded by Mr. A. H. Curtis, a j motion of thanks and confidence in Mr. | Jones as the Reform candidate as the future representative for Marsden was ■ carried with acclamation. The chairman , said that such a motion coming trom ! two gentlemen who had retired from the ; contest in Mr. Jones' favour was very ' gratifying.