LIBERAL RALLY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 195, 19 August 1927, Page 8

LIBERAL RALLY.

PARTY BY NO MEANS DEAD. SINS OF THE REFORM PARTY. LANDED COUNTRY IN CHAOS.

"I don't believe any other c;iu.-c could ]ia\e got Mich a inceling to turn out in such weather," said Mr. Hall Skclton laot night at the Chamber of Com merce Hull, where a Liberal rally was held. There were between oO and liO l>cople present, including several women. Dr. \\'. 11. Horton, who preside;!, fore told the rcsutt-itaiioii of the glories o! the Liberal regime. He said he had been much amused to sec in llie pupcr? that evening about the formation of the "L nitecl New Zealand party." It was only the old Reform under another naiue. When malefactors found thai they were to be arraigned, they looked round for nu alias, and that was cxactlv what the Keforin party was doing, now that it knew it was to be brought before the bar of public opinion. Mr. It. B. Spiers, organiser of the Liberals, gave a fluent account of the glorious work done in tiie jwst by the Li Ik-ra Is. He declared that farmers, commercial men, industrialists and the great bulk of the right-thinking j>eoplc were sick and tired of the present inexpert administration of the country's utTairs, and demanded a changc. The meeting that night was called for the pur|»ose of reviving not only the principles, but the very name of Liberalism itself, and lie predicted that it would ill the future lcjx'at the splendid achievements of the past. At the present time New Zealand was controlled; by Royal Commissions, ami ridden to death with Orders-in-Council. Mr. Coatcs had gone in witli a flourish of trumpets, but be had failed to keep his promises, and even his own party was dissatisfied with him. Mr. Hall Skclton, who gave a very full account of the Liberal platform, prefaced his remarks by reading telegrams of good wishes from Mrs. Ballancc. widow of the great Lilieral leader, and Lady Carroll. Mr. Skclton contended that the country was at the present time in a state of cliaos. due to maladministration. He particularlv romplained about the state into which the farmers had been forced by the Keforin party. The primary producer was the backbone of the country, and he was drowned under n burden of interest. There was no freehold nowadays; it was all mortgage-hold. There were too many big estates, and the country must get back to the Ballauce land settlement principle before it could prosper, and a cure be found Tor the present crying evils, when children were short "of food, and farmers were driven to suicido in increasing numbers. Another strong plank in the Liberal platform was cheap money, through a State hank. The trouble with the Reform party was that Mr. Coatcs did not understand economics; in fact, lie was in that respect a mere baby in swaddling clothes. Mr. Coates was good looking, and the party had coiuinercialised his good looks and war record, and put him m power upon that. As for the alleged new party that »hi announced in Auckland. the United New Zealand party, it was a l»ogus affair and was nothing more than the old party under another name. He knew* all abdiit it. and where it had been hatched in a house in Remtiera— and the man at the back of it was a staunch supporter of the Reform partv, but people would not swallow' his bluff. The time Lad come when the old Liberal banner must be unfurled again, and once more the party would restore order out of chaos, just as it had done in 1890. In answer to a question, it was stated by tho chairman that the matter of a leader for the party had not been decided. At the close of a very successful meeting those present, on the motion of Mr. A. J. Lovvdrn, seconded by Mr. n. V. Arlow. resolved: "That "it be a recommendation from tlii» meeting to the democratic representatives in Parliament that they use every endeavour to bring about a union of "the democratic forces of this country on a common policy."