Mr James Allen, M.P.

Bruce Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 42, 30 May 1910, Page 3

Mr James Allen, M.P.

At Stirling. There was an attendance of about -10 at tho Church Hull, Stirling, on Tuesday evening, when Mr Allen, tho member for the district,, delivered a'political address. Mr I). Boyd, councillor for the Hiding, who presided, said it was usual for the chairman to introduce the speaker to the audience., but after 19 years' service as' member for Bruce he was well-known to most of them; if he was not it was their own faults. He was sure they were all pleased to have (heir member witli them that liiil'ht. They were always pleased to see their member, as it enabled the people to keep in' eiose touch with him, and it was only by coming amongst them that he was enabled to know their wants and attend to them,* —(Hear, hear.) Mr Allen, who was ■■well received, began by a reference to the death of the King, whom he spoke of as tho Kin» Peacemaker. His deatli seemed to have drawn the various members of the Km pi re closer together. It was a striking evidence of his influence that three hundred thousand Hindus had walked two miles barefooted to attend a demonstration of mourning and loyalty. He also referred to the death*of Mr Batumi a man of education and ability, who had done good work on the Kducation Committee. Mr Baume's ability had not been realised to the fullest extent because lie was restrained by Party ties. A member of the Government Party was more restrained in this respect than n member of the Opposition. To l)r Hocken, also. Mr Allen paid a generous tribute. I)r Hocken had left a monument of his life in the museum, and Mr Allen advised his hearers when they had tin hour or two to spare to go 'down there and see the valuable historical records lie had presented to the people. Ju reference to the chairman's remarks that a member should keep in close touch with his constituency, Mr Allen said he felt he should do that to the fullest extent possible because he did not live in the constituency. He did his best to go round the district, perhaps more so than was otherwise necessary, so that he might know the people, and that they might question him on any matter' of Interest to them. Mr Allen then dealt with Defence matters as reported in his Milton speech elsewhere in this issue.

OLD AGE PENSIONS. 1 Mr Allen referred to a statement that had been published that he had opposed the Old Age Pensions Bill, and had voted against the third reading. What he said was that no disabilities should be put upon the man or woman who had been able to save a home for themselves. The Bill did impose disabilities, and he (Mr Allen) had good reason to vote against it on this account, and did so. Under the Bill the man who had saved £IOO or £l5O got nothing, but the man who wasted what he earned, or who had been a drunkard, got the pension H. was wrong to say he had opposed Old A<ro Pensions and \nnuUi<«. The Party with which he was associated when he went into the Bouse 23 years ago had under consideration an Annuities Bill. "I am in favour of Old A.fre Pensions and Annuities," said Mr Allen, "but I don't want them to be degrading to our people. The rio-ht thing, for the State and the individual, "is to encourage and kelp those who help themselves. It's the ri«ht principle to go upon, and the Government have at last recognised that, for they have now amended the Act so as not to penalise those who have been fortunate enough to put by j» little for their old age. Now, also, the Government is talking about Nat'onal Annuities, a thing that Sir Harry Atkinson was discussing 2-5 years ago." Mr Allen then proceeded to deal with TWO CLASSES OF LEGISLATION. It was wrong to say that position had not assisted beneficial legislation. They had done «o. They had also helped with social legislation, and much of it had been improved by what the Opposition had done. There was other legislation. Had the Second Hullot been of benefit ? Did the country get value for the £7,000 it_ cost?' Did it give a true result of a" <iuiel vote of the people? It did not. The country was not represented in Parliament as it ought to be, and it would not be till they had some system of proportional representation. There was

NISKD POP RESTRICTIVE LEGISLATION, but it must not be tyrannical. The dairy regulations was an example of how' restrictive legislation might be made tyrannical. Under the Water Power Bill also the Government took all the water power into its own hands, did nothing with it, and prevented private enterprise. They gave it up, but had now taken_ it on again, and proposed spending half a million a year in developing it. Then there was'the railways. The Government would not build a railway themselves, and would not allow anyone else to build it. There might be objections to railways going out of the 'hands of the State, but where a district was prepared to build a railway and guarantee the cost it was entitled to every consideration. _ They proposed also" that all local bodies should be compelled to pay their sinking funds to the Public Trustee, which he" 5 condemned as an unnecessary restriction on local bodice. There was an Anti-Trust Bill proposed, which might be all right within certain limits. The clause in the Noxious Weeds Bill, placing the power in the hands of the Inspector instead of the Magistrate was all wrong. Then there was the legislation which competed with the industries of the people. They started a lime kiln at Dun back to run against the Milburn Company. It failed, and was nowrun by. the very people it was put up to fight against. He condemned the State Fire Office making use of confidential information in the hands of other departments. The Crown Suits Act was another unnecessary restriction. The Wellington Farmers' Co-operative were driven out of a section in Wellington by the dust from the State Coal yard, and the Crown Suits Act prohibited action against tuo. State*

LAND QUESTION,

Mr Allen next referred to the Land Question, and asked where the Government was on that question? The Government had got one of their proposals from "over tho river," tho Malcolm had never thanked Mr Malcolm for it. Mr Allen read the demands of the .Leaseholders, which were that no more lands should be sold, and that all the lands at present in the Hands of private owners be bought up. There will be no more freehold then. The Opposition want to do away with the big freeholders and have small ones. Tho leaseholders want to do away with all freehold and make all State leaseholders. LOANS TO LOCAL BODIKS. Mr Allen went on to deal with Loan*' to Local Bodies, and said he favoured the old system whereby loans could be paid oil in 41 years'at 3.\ per cent, interest and sinking fund. The Prime Minister told., the people at Win ton that .0200,000 had been lent out at <*U per cent. It was through the action of the Opposition that they could borrow even at per cent interest, for the Government proposed I.V per cent. The new system would, he was sure, not be so good to small local bodies as tho old system. The loans to Local Bodies were to be shown separate from the Public Debt. This would be all right if the position were clearly shown, and an attempt was not made to make the. public believe we had borrowed £30,000*11 we had borrowed £70,000. LOCAL GOVKRNMKNT. Mr Allen next dealt with the proposed Local Government Bill which had been promised so long. What the local bodies wanted was an assured finance, increasing in' proportion as they rated themselves, so as to do away with the present extravagance and scramble for votes. Local Bodies were the essence of local life, and should bo put upon a sound footing with regard to finance. CONCLUSION.

Mr Allen concluded with an appeal to the people to rise to a sense of their national life. "We must all do our best," he said in conclusion, "to do the work set before us, and if we do that there will be no fear of our country or our Empire. If we think we can go to the top of the tree with indolence--tthd idleness then we are greatly mistaken. "We have'the experience of other countries to guide us ; we have their knowledge, and wo know the evils of older lands, and if we look to them and do our duty and avoid their evils, we can, and we will, build up a great land." Mr Allen, who spoke for about an hour and ten minutes, resumed his seat amid a hearty round of applause. A QUESTION. Mr IT. C. Jones said it would be interesting to have Mr Allen's ideas as to the Standard Oil Co. getting a hold of the New Zealand oil fields. Mr Allen said he could not say much about that. There was some talkof an English Company taking an interest in the New Zealand oil fields. He thought it would be a great mistake if the Standard Oil Co. got hold of them. THANKS AND CONFIDENCE.

! Mr Thos. Parker moved a hearty | vote of thanks to Mr Allen for his I address. it was possible that when ' he came round again there would be ' a general election in' view, and there would be a greater crowd and more questions. It was acknowledged by all that Mr Allen had attended well to his duties as their member. He j (Mr Parker) heard that on all hands. Mr Allen knew our needs, and lie look--Icd well after them. In Mr Allen they 1 had an able man, who not only work- ' ed for the good of his district but for i the good of the Dominion. He wishled the vote to include confidence as I well, though it was hardly necessary, I but they wanted Mr Allen to know that he had their thorough approval. —(Applause.) Mr G. 1:1. Gilroy seconded the motion, which was carried amid applause. The Chairman said that as councillor for the -Hiding he was in a position to know how assiduously Mr Allen set himself to the work of the district. He uavc a great deal of his time, and sacrificed not a little of his comfort

in attending to it. He (the chairman) had no idea until lie got into the Council the amount of work Mr Allen did and the time he devoted to it, and they always received his best attention, lie thought he was but riirht in acknowledging it there—(Applause.) Mr Allen thanked those present for their vote and kind expression of good feeling, and also Mr Parker for his kind personal remarks. In reference ..to what Mr Parker and the chairman had said, he felt that he had not always done what he might have done, but he had not, and did not intend to parade what he had been able to do, or what he had got. for them. • He had always done his best, and he trusted to his actions: speaking for themselves. It was very encouraging to a member to feel that he had the approval of his constituents, and to receive such a kind expression as he had received that evening. In conclusion, he had great pleasure in moving a very hearty vote of thanks to Councillor Boyd for presiding. The vote being carried by acclamation brought the meeting to a close.