SHELL-BACKED TORY.

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

SHELL-BACKED TORY.

MR. PARRY ATTACKS HIM. CITY CENTRAL SEAT. LABOUR THE ONLY HOPE. "The immigration policy pursued by the Government is absolutely disastrous to this country" —(Hear, hear!) —said Mr. W. E. Parry, in addressing a crowded meeting at St. James' Hall last night. Mrs. L. E. Rowlat was in the chair. Continuing, Mr. Parry said we had nothing against our comrades from the Old Land; but it was absolutely unjust to the people living in New Zealand if immigrants were brought here without adequate provision being made for them. Our first duty, the candidate considered, was to the people already in the country. Every man should be in a job and every family have a home of its own. "Then, after making full provision," was his advice, "we can extend the hand of friendship to our kinsmen across the seas." The case of an immigrant with a family of 17 children was cited by Mr. Parry. A voice: What- wage does he get ? Mr. Parry: Under our law he is called upon to keep that crowd on £4 1/. The other day he was in the charitable aid offices at Hamilton to get assistance. A voice: Shame! Mr. Parry: Yet, from one end of New Zealand to the other you have these things taking place. I leave it to the papers and to the audience to say whether I am right or wrong. Voices: Right. An Optimistic Supporter. Mr. Parry who was first returned by City Central six years ago, with a majority of 700, and retained his seat at the last general election with over a thousand majority, said he was asking for a renewal of that confidence, not for himself personally, but for the party he represented. "I have a deep conviction," he said, "that the only hope for humanity at the present time the world over is in the Labour policy." A voice: You will get in with two thousand this time, Bill! In launching his campaign, Mr. Parry declared that his attack on Reform was not a malignant attack, but was due to his deep hatred of reaction. He pointed to the conditions of industrial discontent and turmoil all over the world, in America, Germany, Great Britain, and China, and" attributed the present trouble in England to the unfair distribution of wealth, which allowed ten per cent of the people to annex half the annual income. Against conditions such as that the only hope of the workers was to band themselves together by a chain of sympathy that seemed to extend throughout the world. If the lot of society was to be improved, then the beginning must be made by altering the system. The present system was the product of circumstances, and that was capitalism. Mr. Parry made a spirited reply to a rumour by an opponent that he had bought 50 acres of Maori land. He had never bought a foot of land from the Maoris in his life, and, as for owning fifty acres, the worst feature of it was that it was untrue. "If I was asked where I would rather have fifty acres," he smilingly remarked, "I would say in Queen Street." A Unique Position. Mr. Parry described his position in the present campaign as somewhat unique. He was called upon to fight two opponents, both of whom subscribed to fusion, and the only thing they disagreed on was the number of Cabinet positions each side should get. "A vote for either candidate will be a vote cast for the Tory Government," he added, in predicting a victory for Labour and an immediate coalition between the Liberal and Tory elements. On several occasions during his address Mr. Parry spoke of Reform's utter ignorance of economics; and severely criticised their action in reducing the wages of the workers and making rebates in the income tax to the wealthy people. The rebates amounted to £10,600,000 in four years, and the reductions in wages to £16,000,000. That was one of Reform's gifts to the wealthy class. Another was the reduction in the income tax. And, while the income tax was reduced, the customs duties, which fell upon the workers, were increased, until now with an impost of £12.000,000 by the time the goods reached the consumer, the levy upon the average family was £3" a year. There were over 36,000 income tax payers in New Zealand, and 165 of these received more than half the rebates. A voice: Well, the devil is good to his own. Mr. Parry: This year 2fi taxpayers received nearly half the remissions! Invalidity Pensions. Mr. Parry stressed the need of invalidity pensions in New Zealand. "I have stood by that all my life," he said. "We must give our people a sense of security and make a proper provision against sickness, unemployment and old age. (Hear, hear!) Then there will be no need to pass conscription if war breaks out. We'll fight for our country all right. (Applause.) It was Seddon who founded our pensions system; and

on every point the Tory party fought his bill, which he finally carried in spite of them at the famous sitting of 80 hours. The Tories also fought Seddon on the State Advances to Settlers, and fire insurance, and said he was endeavouring to turn New Zealand into a pawnshop. Now, the Labour party offered a contributory pension system. The people had waited over thirteen years for something to be done. "And," declared Mr. Parry, "there is no man in New Zealand to-daY more willing to make a greater sacrifice than Mr. H. E. Holland. (Applause.) lam proud of Mr. Holland. (Renewed applause.. What had Mr. Coates to promise. He was following a blundering and bungling financial policy that piled up a great debt for the Dominion in the war, and we were now actually borrowing money to pay interest on the debt. Meanwhile, Mr". Coates was promising the people that he would remedy the housing trouble. "He has something in his mind that will enable him to do it," Mr. Parry facetiously observed; "and he asks you to vote for him because he has something in his mind." Concluding, Mr. Tarry urged the people to preserve their equilibrium and stand up for a policy that was going to conserve their rights and aspirations. He did not believe the 'Government led by the present Prime Minister was as strong as under the late Mr. Massey. The late Prime Minister had the capacity to mould ideas of his own. and the personality to push them to the front. The present Premier had not that, and consequently we .-ere more dependent upon the advice of the "real, old, shellbacked Tory of olden times." The meeting concluded with a unanimous vote of thanks and confidence.