RAGLAN BY-ELECTION.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 226, 24 September 1927, Page 12

RAGLAN BY-ELECTION.

MR. PARKER AT NGARUAWAHIA AN OUTSPOKEN ADDRESS. MR. VEITCH'S TRENCHANT CRITICISM OF REFORM. (By Telegraph.— Special to "Star.") XGARUAWAHIA, this day. The greatest audience by far that has assembled in the Xgaruawahia Town Hall during the present campaign gathered there last night to hear the Liberal candiate, Mr. T. Parker, and the Liberal member for Wanganui, Mr. W. A. Veitch, speak. The Mayor, Mr. H. J. Sampson presided. Both speakers were given an excellent reception, and their remarks greeted with repeated bursts of applause. The candidate, who showed considerable improvement as a speaker since his first address, was very outspoken in his criticism of the Government, which, he said, was without a competent head and without a definite beneficial policy of any kind. In the earliest stages of the election it was considered that the issue lay between Reform and Labour, but Mr. Parker has definitely jumped into a leading position and the opinion generally held is that he will poll exceedingly heavily. Mr. Parker said Mr. McLeod'had complained that he (Mr. Parker) had wrongly criticised the Government's land policy. The Minister had gone astray here, for th . e , Government had no land policy to criticise. (Laughter and applause.) The speaker quoted very telling figures from the official Year Book showing that in every direction expenditure and taxation had gone up, while the country in comparison was sadly slipping back. An honest and outspoken speech concluded with an appeal to the electors to review the excellent legislation enacted by the Liberal Government and compare it with that of Reform, and if true and honest to themselves and the country they could not do otherwise than vote for the Liberal candidate. (Loud applause). Mr. Veitch, who was also given a wonderful reception, said he was proud to have listened to the honest and fluent speech delivered by Mr. Parker, and remarked that if the country had a Parliament of honest men they could not go far wrong. He was sure the audience could not but have been impressed by Mr. Parker's outspoken address. Mr. Veitch went on to severely trounce the Government for its lack of a land policy, and said the banks were being blamed for having increased the rate of interest. It was the Government, however, who gave the lead. It had always given the lead in raising the rate of interest, while the Liberal Government had always given the lead in the opposite direction. The Liberal land policy had given wonderful satisfaction where put into effect throughout the whole country. The Government was more or less asleep across the path of progress. The best way to develop the country was to allow the man with plenty of money to go out into the backblocks and prepare the land for the small moneyed man to take over. The country could never prosper till people went back on to the land, but to send they back on to the land under present conditions was only to send them to misery and ruin. He claimed in the name of Liberalism that its policy of settling the land had spread progress, prosperity and goodwill wherever it had been put into operation. (Applause.) Mr. Veitch dealt at some length with the need for agricultural banks, such bank to be entirely independent of Government interference and managed by farmers themselves. In every country in the world where the scheme had beon tried it had proved of great value to the farmers and had the effect of stabilising land values at a reasonably high levef. Tt had prevented slump and booms, and had attracted a great deal of money to the farming industry which would otherwise not come to it. The agricultural bank would mean more and cheaper money. The Government had opposed the Agricultural Bank Bill on the grounds that it involved a Government guarantee of debentures, but it was an interesting fact that over half a million B.N.Z. capital carried a Government guarantee, apart from shares held by the Government. The Government delay in dealing with this important matter had undoubtedly meant financial ruin to thousands of farmers. The speaker was asked the Government's reason for failing to support the agricultural banks. Mr. Veitch in reply considered that the Government was trying to please both sides, and had failed to please either. The plain fact was that it was afraid to face responsibility. The country was crying out for a return to Liberalism, under which there was less class distinction, less class hatred, more prosperity and less poverty and dissatisfaction. If John Ballance had been living to-day he would not have been working in the interests of the large land owners against the small farmer, or the bankers against the wage earners. The greatest danger in Parliament today was that of a young and over-con-fident but inexperienced Prime Minister. Both Mr. Parker and Mr. Veitch answered a large number of questions, and at the conclusion both speakers were heartily thanked, Mr. Parker having specially requested no vote of confidence. The meeting was the most enthusiastic yet held in the electorate.