TAURANGA ELECTION.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 72, 24 March 1923, Page 14

TAURANGA ELECTION.

VOICES OF THE PEOPLE, j ELECTORAL TACTICS AT TAURANGA. ( T„ the Edil.c ■ Sir-Will vol. kili.Uy ox,, lan, .he I dituation for Hie I'.dictil oi your re.ide.-. ißthe present election n tnanjrii »>' --»' • Is it Massey and Macinillan v. Ward. ... | Ward and Macinillan v. M:i~scy ov Mas- , XV and Ward v. Macinillan" Why no. ,et it be Massey v. Ward: and \ polls most voles Mm initial, gi»"« '»■ ' ", ,s | would sine confusion. Objection wl taken to Ward not being a resident ... I the electoral.-. Why. then, is there no j objection lo .Mr Massey conum: ""' "• j his electorate to interfere between ;i j Btraighto.lt issue 1 U' M • •■=■'•' x ;", AU j Blillan retire, and let ill.c a fair pmj ; square contest. The refusal ot Ward of | political as-is'.ance should have been silt-| ficient to let the contest be between two. j and not two to one. Mask's mt crier- ; en.c will not be viewed with favour by his own supporters. 1 am. <",-.. PKRI'I.KXKP. ; (To 111.- Edi.or.i j Si r —The Rt. Hon. W.V. Massey. Prime Minister, is noi playing the game.l Sir Joseph Ward refu-ed the assistance. of three liberals to assist his campaign. He preferred a lone hand to fight his nun electoral battle, and Mr. Massey. as a sportsman, should have lone .he same. But he prefers to get nio thej ring and give the Liberal candidate for! Tauranga some thumps in the back when he is fronting his Tamanga opponent,| Sir Joseph will go in with it all and will have the.satisfaction of "knocking out"| Macmillan and the Prime Minister. If. on the other hand, Mr. Macmillan managed to get in, the other M.P.'s would look upon him as not able to stand on his own legs, but had to be carried in by the Premier,—l am. etc.. FAIR PLAY. (To the F.ditor.) Sir.—Re the forthcoming by-election for :i member for Tauranga, a great many of us, previously strong supporters of the so-called Reform party, were inclined to give Sir Joseph Ward a patient hearing, as we are not bigoted aid realise that our party has got the finance of the country into a terrible muddle, and Sir Joseph's brains are the ones required-to again put the country on it sound basis, and after hearing him decide if we should vote for hint or stick to the old party. While we were wavering it has been brought home to us the dirty underhand tricks being played, and misleading statements made by the Reform party to try and win the seat, and the absence of good old British fair play in their every move, bringing home to a very large number of us that the time has come to cut away from a party 7 that; lias to descend to these tactics to get their candidate elected. ' One glaring example of these tactics was the account in the "Herald" of Mr. Master's welcome in Tauranga by a crowd of over 2000 people! Why. we have not 2000 adults in the borough. Two hundred would | ■have been nearer the truth. The recep- j tion was a stage-managed fiasco. This is on a par with many other unsportsmanlike methods of our old party. Mr. Massey and his committees are taking it very sore that so many of us are severing from them and giving our support to Sir Joseph Ward, but in the face of these tactics can they blame us? The Ward party is now led by most of the prominent "men both here and in Te Puke, most of whom are converts from the other party, and the more we go into the matter the more we are convinced that we are right in pushing to have Sir Joseph returned. He was the man that we could least afford to lose vhen tackling our after-war troubles, and the sooner we get him back into Parliament, to assist in getting the country out of the awful muddle that it Is in, the better for us all.—l am, etc., FOR-WARD. Tauranga. March 23, 1023. THE FOURTH ALTERNATIVE. (To the Editor.) Sir, —In your issue of Tuesday last, Mr. Massey states that in the event of his in a minority of one, there are only three alternatives left. But, sir. I would like'to point out to the lion. ?;entleman that there is a fourth, which, f adopted by him, will save the country £ 80.000, his" estimate of the cost of another election. That alternative is for him to resign the Premiership, and ■o allow Parliament to elect another leader who commands the confidence ot the people. Is the hon. gentleman, who is always preaching patriotism, prepared to show his patriotism now, by resigning his office rather than put the country to such a huge expense? —I am, etc, ■LIBERAL. TAXING THE FARMER. (To the Blltor.) Sir, —Tn view of the large amount of Interest in the finance of the Dominion — Ward and Massey saying to each other. "You're another." it would be as well to note statistics. First of all, it is agreed that the last three or four years, say from lfllS to 1021 have been most strenuous years for the Dominion and for taxation purposes. The values ought not to have been materially increased. What are the facts? I'nimproved values in North Island counties have increased in the ten years. 1012-1021, by £55,432.----900: and in'the three years, 1018-1021 by f33.39G.10G. The increases for the past three years. 1018-1921. therefore, were over half I the increases of the previous ten years. Seeing that the last three years have been the worst financially in the history of the Dominion, if this increase is not frenzied finance, give it a name. Added to this, we are informed that the ordinary public debt has been increased in one year, from March 31st, 1021 to March 31st, 1022, by £11.881.717. Nearly twelve millions increase in twelve months, a million a month.' for a million people comes perilously near to frenzied finance.—l am, etc., ■ FRIGHTENED. MATAMATA. (To the F.ditor.) Sir.—The "Herald's" "Matla Matta" Teporter takes exception to Sir Joseph Ward's pronunciation of the place's name. Let mc tell this critical scribe that it is no. a qviestion of long "a" or. sbort "a" as he thinks: it is a grammatical fact that no syllable in Maori can end in a consonant. Ma-ta-Ma-ta is correct, whatever the local custom may be. The critic is of the sort who takes a trip to Rot-a-ru-a. and goes via Ot-a-hu-hu, Man-u-re-wa, and ra. J have heard them before.—l am e ta, KIA ORA.

I FRENZIED FINANCE. (To Hie llilltor.l sir- The ordinary common garden variety kind of elector in Tauranga must regard himself just now as a wonderful personage wooed by political Ministers ..i various and several degrees of impor- j lance, standing and unreliability, from .lie Premier down, promising all kinds of items, from railways, schools, public works, elc. down to penny postage, all lighting for their political Ministerial lives and existence. The average elector niav easily lose his sense of proportion and hi- ability to perceive jus! what is happening, in the Tauranga electorate todm I \\hcn. however. Mr. Massey. with the | unfortunate reputation lie has made fori hi:rsclf and the lieform party, for the | manner ill which lie has handled the finances of ibis country for the past three years, starts ill to criticise any financial proposal put forward by Sir Joseph Ward, and talks about "Frenzied Finance" in reference thereto, surely the | uio-l den-e and obfuscated elector, ill or j ..i:i of Tauranga. niiir-t realise the difference ill the value of a statement made by a man like sir Jo-eph Ward, who during the whole of his Parliamentary career | and sen ice to this country, never laid j before Parliament or p:it on the Statute Hook a liunncial proposition that did not nun on. a success, as against criticism of any such proposal by Mr. W. F. Massey. whose every lloiindcring financial effort has proved a dud. Let il (l-o be remembered that Sir .1. Ward's most brilliant proved financial legislation. Government Advance to Settlers. Stale Fire Insurance, etc.. etc all came in lor the same kind of criticism now put forward in Tauranga. a. the hands of the very same W. F. Massey, and the words •'Frenzied Finance." ••Pauperism." and "National Hankriiptcy" come Moating hack to us from the shades of that past which Mr. Massey appears to think has been forgotten for ever. In the light of the history of New Zealand legislation for the past thirty years. ,i- Hearing on the respective ability of Sir Joseph Ward (financial and otherwise) and his critic, no working farmer elector of Tauranga should have any difficulty in deciding what to do on March 25.-- 1 am. etc J. UFA, Farmer. I WAIKT-TAURANGA RAILWAY. (To the Kditor.) Sir.— It is just as well for the electors of this district to note that it has taken fifteen years to construct the railway line from Tauranga (the Mount) to Matata, a distance of 50 miles, and it is still being run under the Public Works Department. An up-to-date contractor would sack half the "heads" and do the work in half the time. Then again rails are laid down to rust, only being used for carrying working men and requirements for the construction further on. instead of putting them into commercial use. The Matata-Awakeri section will prove that. Another tiling the electors should hear in mind is that as ling as the Massey Government is in power money is sure to he scarce and dear. Men have been commandeered. Why not the rate of interest, which high rate is a scandal. New Zealand has been run in the past by three very powerful financial men (two outside Parliament), and it is to their interests to see that the interest on money keeps up. Farmers of Tauranga district, remember on polling day how you and others have suffered through these financial jugglers.—l am, etc., A FARMER "FED UP." (To the F.di:or) Sir,—The following' facts will afford Tauranga electors the most conclusive evidence of the manner in which their interests have been neglected by the Massey Government. The total" number of employees on the East Coast Main Trunk line from Waihi to Napier, 444 miles, was in. 1022, 528: in 1023. 540. an increase of 12 men. The Waikokopu branch line of 25 miles had 273 men working in January, 1022, and 310 in 1023; an increase of 46 men. Or to put it in another wav: The Main Trunk line from Waihi to' Napier lias had about one and a quarter men per mile working on 444 miles of line and the 25 miles of branch line at Waikokopu has had thirteen men to the mile employed. This alone in the face of so much talk about pushing on railway construction of our Main Trunk is 'enou-h to damn any Government so far as the North Island is concerned. The 40 miles from Pokeno to Paeroa which should be finished at the same time that the 40 miles from Waihi to Tauranga is completed, has not been mentioned. Twelve years for 13 miles of construction from Waihi to Tauranga is an indication of what may he expected from the Massey Government. Sir Joseph W ard turned the first sod of the H aihi-Tauranga railway, 40 miles in 1011 lie hopes to live long enough to see ,ts completion. At the present rate of progress he will have to be as old as' .Methuselah—and that was only 969 years.—l am. etc., G0 SLOW. 'To .he Editor.) Sir.—The "Herald" heralds in its Saturdays isM.e. „„der the title East oast Railway, "work is vigorously in band in the Wailw-Tauranga section." J * it ? It has taken twelve years to construct thirteen miles of line The bridge over tile Oliinemu'ri stream at Waihi has only recently been taken in hand Sir William Fraser, as Minister Of Public Works, stated that he did not t link the country between Waihi and tauranga worth a railway line, and his! successor has ,„,t shown any vigorous effort. Why was not the line constructed in the usual business-like way of carrying on platelaying and ballasting from (the start tn the finish? | Let us look at the vigorous construction of the past: -January. 1011). number of men employed on the forty m.iles of line between Waihi and Tauranga. o-l; December. |f>lo, 88 men; 1020. 7(5 men: ]".-_>l, ;,; men . ~,00, SI men . ]02 3 February, 70 men. Mow docs this compare as a vigorous proposition to the work of constructing twenty-five mile* ot branch line at Waikokopu with 34-' men ? Now that the handwriting has appeared on the wall, the talk is vio-orous construction. Why not make it" clear that if the twenty-live miles left to tonnect Tauranga can be completed m three years, the Pofceno-Paeroa connection should be made at the same time It is an infinitely eas j er ]ille to construct than the twenty-five miles to la.lra.lga The late Sir William lerries always connected the two, and tfn S r ik ' n r X " ~is conftuentssaul: "While you are barrack•btrruk' f C \\ iUh T; TaU,an " a ™»nection be no , * thß Paer °a-'P°keno section » sa /the 01 ? et l- at the sa, " u t; ™ to takl con S est '°n of traffic that would tL P P°r 3t £ ra nkton Junction." - The Pokeno-Paeroa line from Pokeno ' detn- Y Wamp at Wa itakaruru had a 'Mailed survey and cross-sections taken

years ago, and a contract could be let for ios construction to-morrow if those plans are in existence. There must be something said to humbug the people, but the Government cannot humbug them all the time. Now is the time for Tauranga to start to get new .blood into a moribund Administration.— I am, etc., KATIK'ATI SKIT, .KM. THE WAIUXU RAILWAY. (To Ihe F.ditor. 1 Sir.—Sir Joseph Ward gave some statistics re this line to whi-li Mr. Massey takes exception, and wants to know where he obtained his figures. Well, let us take the official statements. The engineer-in-chief in the Public Works Statement for 1022 covers it up under tlelensville-Te Awamutu and branches. The statement of the Minister of I'llbiic Works, Waiuku branch £201,507--Uie £215,000 of Sir Joseph Ward may be to date with interest added. The Minister of Railways, 1022. in*Tus statement of revenue from each station to :ilst March. 1022. gives Waiuku £841 12/1. This amount would not cover the cost of track surfacing. Where is the interest on cost of railway and running expenses coming from'; Vet through all this wasteful expenditure we have another twenty-live miles branch line to cost £300.00(1 or more which cannot pay.— I am. etc.. MORE LIGHT. SOUTHERN INTEREST IN TAURANGA. (To the F.ditor.) Sir. —It lias become almost a personal matter with the people of New Zealand that Sir Joseph Ward should again enter political life. He has proved bis worth and ability in the past, both as a private member and as Premier of New Zealand. It is men such as he that we desire to see in Parliament, particularly at the present critical state of the country. During his term of office as Premier of the Liberal partybe helped to make pians and pass legislation that has brought considerable benefit and happiness to the homes and people of New Zealand. Their policy was for the good of all. There are many in New Zealand who can testify to this and who have benefited by the Liberal laws. Mr. Massey at his meeting at Tauranga recently. claimed credit for an increase of old age pensions, also increased widows' pensions. The increased widows' pensions was a cost-of-living bonus on their superannuation forced upon the Government by the Liberal and Labour parties. So iii the true sense of the word it cannot be called an increase, as it was granted on November 1. 1020. and the recipients have been notified that it terminates on March 31. 1023—'.his month.—l am, etc.. A riTRISTCTirRCH LIBERAL.