WAITEMATA'S ASPIRANT.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 244, 15 October 1925, Page 10

WAITEMATA'S ASPIRANT.

THE MAYOR OF DEVONPORT. A CORDIAL RECEPTION. THE AIMS OF NATIONALISM. A good reception was accorded Mr. T. Lamont, Mayor of Devonport, on the occasion of his opening address as National candidate for Waitemata in the Liberal interest at Devonport last night. Mr. J. Henderson, Deputy Mayor, presided over a large attendance. The candidate stated that he was standing in the Liberal interests because Liberalism meant liberty. There were few words in their language so open to misconstruction as the word liberty. The elements of Liberalism were civic, social, fiscal, local, racial, national, economic, personal, domestic, and political liberty, or, summed up, it was the greatest good for the greatest number, no class distinction and no preference to any section of the people. He was an advocate of Liberalism because its object was to break down the three-party system. This country was too small to have three political parties, and the difference between Liberal and Reform was so slight that it only meant the dropping overboard of the few old Tories who held the money bags in the Reform party to permit a fusion of those two into one strong progressive whole. Such a combination, he believed, would take place immediately after the election, because the electors of the country were beginning to realise that they were being governed not by the Reform party, but by a few members of it, who were not all in Parliament—he meant the financial interests of the country who dominated the Reform party. The aim of the National party was to unite those who desired to see the interests of the country placed before those of party, and to bring together all who would work for the return of representatives pledged to support the establishment of a Government absolutely national in character and spirit. The National party was out to preserve and strengthen the ideal of a united British Empire and to make New Zealand a worthy member of it. They wanted a strong, progressive, and reliable Government returned, and a Government composed of capable men who had overcome difficulties and handicaps in their own business and public life. Sound Finance Needed. When considering whether they should return the same Government this year, he asked them not to consider so much the promises of the future, but the actions of the past. In the Reform party's manifesto it is said that sound finance must always constitute the firm foundations of a good Government. In looking at the Government's past efforts in reference to finance, it would be seen that in 1914 the population was 1.058,300, and in 1920 it stood at 1.271,000, while the public debt was £95.000,000 in 1914 and £228,000,000 in 1925, the Reform Government being responsible for an increase of £57,000.000. He maintained that it was not sound finance to increase the indebtedness by 57 millions, leaving out the war debt, while the population had only increased by less than onequarter of a million. Then in regard to Departmental expenditure, in 1914 it was under £12,000,000, but in 1925 it was nearly £27,500,000. There was no Government employee who was overpaid, and he would like to know where all the money went to. Taking the High Commissioner's office for 1910, the cost was £18,228, but in 1925 it was £47,575. Railway revenue between 1924-25 showed an increase for 1925 of £150,637, an 4 the expenditure an increase of £483,442. The Post and Telegraph revenue for the same period showed an increase of £25,642, and the expenditure had increased by £295,484. Dealing with Customs and taxation, the candidate stated that an endeavour of the Government was to have been the investigation of the incidence of taxation, with the object of placing the burden upon the shoulders of those who were best able to bear it. There was nothing in that to invite controversy or approval, and surely the Government after thirteen years should know all about taxation. But all they could get was a promise that the position may be examined. Reform's Miserable Failure. Taking the actions of the Reform party right through the history of the country, it would be found, so far as land settlement was concerned, that it had been a miserable failure. The Government had always favoured the wealthy squatter and given no help to the small farmer. In 1919 the Land Laws Amendment Act was passed, making provision for enacting the homestead system of settlement, whereby 750,000 acres of land of poorer quality was to be developed. The Government was to assist the settlers, and the areas were to be 600 acres to 1500 acres. The Government took authority to borrow £1,000,000 for the purposes of the Act. The legislation was passed in 1919, and in five years there was not a gain of a single settler. Regarding the Government soldier settlement, said Mr. Lamont, that had been a gigantic failure so far as the returned soldiers were concerned, but a huge success to those who sold the land, some of whom they knew to be ardent supporters of the Reform

party. There was no promise of a State Bank, and that was what the country needed. The dividends paid by the banks varied from 10 per cent to 15 per cent, but that did not indicate the total profits. The total reserves amounted to nearly £15,000,000, and it was a sad spectacle to see soldiers and other farmers walking off their farms because they could not pay the interest charges, while the banks made such huge profits. Briefly, the speaker referred to the Labour party. He said that he agreed with many of its aims and ideas, but by giving votes to the Labour candidate the electors were giving their votes to the workers' greatest political enemy, the Reform party. There were men in the Labour movement in the country who were reasonable, broadminded, loyal citizens, but there were those whom they suspected were loyal only by compulsion, and it was those of the Commu-nistic-Bolshevik type that prevented many moderate men from associating with the Labour party. A Voice: Name them. _ The programme of Liberalism, continued Mr. Lamont, was a business-like and progressive one. It was definite, and the elector could see at a glance what was promised. He urged them to exercise care in the selection of their representative. The meeting was most orderly, and the candidate answered several questions satisfactorily. To one questioner, who wished to know if he was in favour of the Government scheme for bringing water from Taupo to Auckland, the candidate said he did not see why it should not be done. He felt that the undertaking could be carried through by the Government for less money. The cost would be £3,000,000, and an outside engineer would take 5 per cent of that, or £150,000. A motion of confidence was carried unanimously.