"THAT SEVEN-AND-SIX."

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 252, 24 October 1925, Page 14

"THAT SEVEN-AND-SIX."

SIR JAMES PARR'S DENIAL. ■ "WILFUL MISREPRESENTATION"." Sir James Parr, speaking at Glen Eden last night to a large audience, predicted tliat Labour was not going, to increase its vote. Indeed, there were two or three marked contributing factors to a decrease, said the Minister. That unattractive and impracticable proposition called the "usehoM, ,, which, in plain English, meant depriving people of the freehold in houses and land, was a disaster to the Socialists. Again, the utter indifference to this country's best interests, shown by the Auckland. Labour leaders over the shipping strike, indicated their fear of the extremist sections of their party,-and they were therefore ominously silent while a few hundred misguided men left the ships, holding millions of our produce idle on the Waitemata. "Perhaps, however." said tho candidate, "the organised disorder apparently sanctioned by the Labour candidates, who for nearly three weeks have made no attempt to stop it, and the obvious misrepresentations to deceive the workers, would tell equally against the reelection of Labour candidates. The latest election fiction was the broadcasting of a story that the present Government had decided >to reduce wages bj' 7/6 a week. "Xever." said the Minister, with emphasis, "was there a more gross departure from the truth."' What were the facts? Simply that a State official at Wellington, in a report, had drawn attention to Mr. A. B. Piddington's scheme, under which every man with a family was to receive 7/0 more than his ordinary wages for each child by a levy of 7/(i per head. That was all there ■was to it. The suggestion of this officer was not even considered by Cabinet. It had never appeared on the Cabinet table at all, much less any decision come to about the matter. "Yet," said the Minister, with some heat, "the Socialist candidate for Eden and other candidates are broadcasting circulars, sending them into all the factories and works, deliberately stating that the Reform Government had adopted this officer's idea, and, indeed, had decided upon a wholesale reduction of wages. This was false. What were we to think," said Sir James, "of a party which could stoop to such wilful misrepresentation?" Mr. Mason, of course, knew better, but apparently anything was good enough in their attempt to deceive the working man. "I declare, on my honour." said the Minister, '"that this Government, if returned to power, will not decrease the workers' wages. 1 advise the electors of Eden and elsewhere to sleep quite soundly about the matter. It is an idle fable." (Applause.)