WILL STAND OR FALL.

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

WILL STAND OR FALL.

BY REFORM'S POLICY. MR. STEWART'S CAMPAIGN. HIS OPENING ADDRESS. An attentive hearing in which there "was a total absence of heckling, a hearty j vote of thanks and confidence, and a ! unanimous promise of support from the audience marked the meeting of Mr. James Stewart, the official Reform candidate for Auckland East, who opened his campaign to a capacity house at St. Andrew's Hall last evening. In his opening remarks Mr. Stewart said he wanted it to be understood that he had not sought nomination for City East, but when a deputation of business men waited upon him and appealed to him to accept nomination he felt it his duty to accede to that request. There was no time except now in the history of New Zealand that the people were called upon to choose between a strong, sound and stable Government and Bolshevism. "It is an insult for any man with the ideas Harry Holland has to say that Mr. Seddon's mantle has fallen upon him. 1 stand by the greatest Liberal to-day, the present Premier, and by him I stand or fall. Mr. Coates is a young man, virile, and able, and a worthy successor to such men as John Vallance, Richard Seddon and William Massey. If the sins of our party are to rest upon the shoulders of Mr. Coates, those shoulders are broad enough to carry them. I stand by his policy." (Hear, hear). The candidate read out a long list of items which he said -was the policy set out. A great deal had been said about the state of New Zealand because of its pawn tickets, but he did not think those tickets existed. When New Zealand floated a loan of £7,000,000, the London County Council also floated a loan of £6,000,000, each at the same rate, while Xew South Wales for her loan had to pay one half per cent more. That was sufficient to show how the Dominion's credit stood, and was a clear denial that the country was mortgaged to the hilt. He had travelled much, but there was no place in the world like New Zealand, and Auckland, small as it was, would, as the returned soldier said, "do mc." It had been broadcasted that the present Government had not attempted to deal with the housing question, but when he found a Government spending millions on housing then he thought there was something very wrong with the other fellow's eyesight. He read figures showing that the State Advances Department had advanced to workers £9,940,317 for the building of 17,056 houses; to discharged soldiers, £8,345,----311 to build 11,456 houses; to discharged soldiers farm properties, £1,186,000; to railway employees, £465,655 to "build 543 houses; the Public Works Department, £227,640 to build 247 houses; in all the Government had advanced for housing purposes £20.164,923, and the houses numbered 33.365. This.did not include amounts advanced to extinguish mortgages on houses already built. "T throw that in the teeth of any man who will say Reform has done nothing in regard ; to the housing question," said the candidate, amidst applause. "In the criticism of Reform you will find statements made about the Minister for Education, which were not fit to be made in the House, and if so. they are not fit for the electors of Auckland East. That ■will give you an idea what to expect if Labour gets its hands on the treasury benches." A Voice: "Rot! Mr. Stewart: If it Is not palatable to you, sir, there is a reason for it. The voice: Keep to your own platform. Mr. Stewart: I am a worker and I stand for the right thing towards the worker. I have the welfare of the people at heart, and I am contesting the election in their interests. In supporting the worker and doing him justice I do not bow even to Mr. Holland. Touching upon education the candidate said that last year £3.247.130 had been spent on education and £1,748,000 on buildings. Surely reform had been done for education. Much had been said about the national debt, but no country could be developed without money. However, one fact appeared to be overlooked, and it was the amount of the national debt which was interest bearing. He was pleased to say that the country's credit was good. Then there was the war loan. He was not going to say he knew anything of financial wizardry, but he could tell them that the war loan would automatically cease between 36 and 39 years. (Applause.) The candidate then Tead a pamphlet issued by the Labour party in which it was claimed that Reform proposed to reduce the wages of the worker another 7/6 a week. Mr. Stewart said he did not know where the "another" came from. It was not a proposal of the Government to reduce wages 7/6. It was a suggestion by Mr. Piddington, K.C., of New South Wales, and was embodied in the Government Labour Department's report as a means to an end. The suggestion was that single men, widowers or married men with no children should have deducted from their wages 7/6 weekly to go to a central fund; married men or widowers with one child to pay 7/6 which would be repaid them; married men with two children to be paid ordinary wages, plus 7/6 (the employer to deduct 7/G), and the fund to pay 15/ for the two children and so on, according to the number of children in a family. It -was a scheme practically similar to one mentioned by Mr. Justice Frazer in the Arbitration Court. Dealing with taxation, Mr. Stewart said that since 1921 taxation had been reduced in the Dominion by £429.721, whereas each of the Australian States' showed an increase. He was emphatically in favour of freehold because it was the proud boast of every Briton to own his own home. "Usehold is purely confiscation—it is un-British, and I appeal to you to cast it aside as you would a noxious weed or cankerous worm."

In conclusion the candidate pledged himself, if elected, "to honourably seWe the people while life lasts." (Applause ) In answer to questions the candidate said he wag in favour of a two-issue ballot on the licensing question, in favour of the Bible in schools, but said the question should be left t& a refer endum of the people to decide, and expressed the opinion that if they had "a Labour Government it would mean a fnH t>, ° f cx P erim ental legislation cefse progress of the country would