THE MAYOR'S INTRODUCTION.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14987, 6 June 1914, Page 11

THE MAYOR'S INTRODUCTION.

Tho Mayor (Mr. H: Holland), who presided, was received with a mixed broadside of cheers and boohing. Speakin- through the tumult ho said that thoy had gathered to hear an address by the Right Hon. the Prime Minister. (A section of the audience began to "count out" the speaker.) Mr. Massey had set himself a strenuous task in deciding to sneak in tho open air. Mr Holland was understood to remark that in view of the absence of a suitable hall in Christchureh in which to hold large meetings. Mr. Massey would delay no longer, but would givo tho citizens tho Provincial Council Chambers, 60 that next time he came to speak he could do so in a Town Hall. He asked for an attentive hearing for Mr Mas6ey. (The speaker was again "counted out.") He hoped that they would give Mr Massey as patient and as attentive a hear--10" as they would anyone else. Ho had much pleasure in asking Mr Massey to address tho audience. (Great applause followed by boohing.) PRIME MINISTER'S OPENING REMARKS. Mr Massey, on rising to speak, had a mixed reception. Hearty cheers and the wavmg of hats and handkerchiefe wero followed by boohing and general interruption. He had only got the length of: "Mr Mayor, laaies and gentlemout." when he was "counted out." Mr Massey said that in asking them tc meet him out of doors he had been influenced by the fact that tho evening would be probably a fine one. (Continued interruption.) He would do hi? ; best to be heard, but it was evident that the.ro were a few presenl who wore afraid bo hear him speak. (Continued applause). Ho fell certain that the great majority of th< people of Ciiristchurch were willing U hear both sides of the question—(ap platise followed by "counting out")— whatever tho speaker's views might be (More "counting out" and tho chonu "We'll hang old Massey, etc.") I; they thought, Mr Massey continued that they could howl him down, the; never made a greater mistake in thei* Hves. He was good for many hours Ho could speak to tbe reporters nnt they could hear him. (Some detonator placed on the tram lines wero explode* by a passing tram, and much interrup tion ensued). He intended during th next hour or two to givo them as mud information as he possibly could as v the manner in which the business of th country had been conducted during tb< last two years, and at the same tim

o ' he would take tho opportunity* of reply >f ing to the points mado by Sir Josop! o Ward, tho Leader of the Opposition, ; ', : few weeks ago. 0 ! SIR JOSEPH WARD ANSWERED. -- Tho Loader of the Opposition lu%< - said that no Opposition was called upo; a to disclose its policy. (Ironical cheer . and interruption). Tho Opposition o , v.l ick ho had been the leador wn< 3 called upon to put forward a policy ■ a--d actually did it. As Leader of hi" ' Majesty's Opposition three years ago * ho had put forward the policy of tht 1 party to which he belonged in tho Towr f Hall of tho Capital City of the Dc- ; minion. (The speaker was "counted > out" agnin). He had befojo him a copj s of the speech ho mado on that occasiou, P but he was not going to quote it, but I he would say this: That as for the policy he then put forward, it was being strictly adhered to. and they had ' dove their best to give effect to it. 1 Every proposal would bo given effect to '; to tho very letter. (Moro interruption). ■i THE DEPLETED TREASURY. " j Ho did not intend to quote figures at i any length, because figures wero liko i : soldiers- -(the speaker's further re- > marks were drowned by interruptions). He intended to givo them facts —facts which he was prepared to stand by. Ho would make statements of which Ihe could give proof. (A running fire of interruptions occurred.) Mr Massey went on to refor to Sir Jc*s'>h Ward's i statements regarding the state in winch tbo finances of tha Dominion were when the pwent Government took office. Ho held in his hand, he said, an official document, (which ho nucndo'l haudini to tho reporters) taken from the Financial Statement of last year. (Tho was again "counted out.;') With regard to tho ™ *o*^_ r . ,tic k tho commitments •* ere £96.783. The Leader of the Opposition told their that the commitments were nil. Hero were tho comSf«_f T. that e- 1 V s 11ot ' H * *d not know whore Sir J<*er>h Ward cot bis figures but he (Mr Massey) said they were absolutely wrong. y AN IMPROVEMENT EFFECTED. thSw s!, °* p ™R *&* imnrovement 30th Juno, feJ 913 " 8 C °*W* with tfe Juno 30, Jnno.lo, 1912. 1313, Apneas -to s*«ttlor#-- £ £ Total W T _ itm ° nts " ™- v * '«••« - «".«» 813,043 Total funds .. .. G35166 iw«» Advance* to local ' 155 9 78 Total f3 itmCats - •' 7 "' W> Attß -'™ -total funds - g 6753 428g80 THE CONSOLIDATED FUND. 7 J!V* Jose J_ h W/ * rd **** said that on £807j276 to the cred t of tho Con- ' _#*$ f" n A' *%** pay Sent of £500,000 to the Public Works Fund, that was a very plausible statement, /and it was right, as far as the date was concerned (The speaker was counted out.") Mr. Massoy was understood to state that when his Govnr^rr£° k ,°? c ?' tho credifc balance or £807,000 had been reduced owing to the payment of interest on loans between the end of the financial year and the date when the present Government took office. (The speaker was "counted out. ') By the time the present Government got into office, the amount to credit of tho Consolidated Fund had dwindled to £188,000 odd. Did Sir

cheers and "counting out.") ADVANCES TO SETTLERS. | Mr Massey then quoted Sir Joseph i Ward's remarks regarding the lowering of the limit of advances under tho Advances to Settlers .Act. When Sir Joseph went out of office, and when tho present ■'Government took office, ho said, the limit was £500, although, by legislation, it should have been £3000. But the Treasury was in such an unsatisfactory position that it was impossible for him (Sir .Toneph. Ward) to lend more. Sir Joseph had attempted to justify that sort of thing. The position at the present moment was that thoso who wanted to borrow £500. and had sufficient security, were able to goi the money they required. After somo further interruption, Mr Massey went on to _ay that os regards local bodies, it had been almost impossiblo for them to borrow at all, because there was no money left, though Treasury Bills to tho extent of £100,000 bad been issued, and £785,000 of the reserve fund of securities—a fund that was only to be touched for extra purposes —had been pledged. The present Government had increased tho limit that could be borrowed under tho Advances to Settlers Act to £1000—double what it .was when they took offico. (Tho speaker was again "counted out"). The Department had declined to lend for the purpose of paying off mortgages of £700 or £800. The present Government had altered that, and now, in the case of a tenant oh Crown lands who has sufficient security, the Department lent money for tho repayment of loans equal to £1000. An tho case of an ordinary individual the limit was £750. As -to local bodies, instead oi not being able to lend them anything, tho position now was tnat they could lend up to £15,000. (Applause and boohing.) "If they required a large; sum, and the Government was not ab!< to lead it, there was legislation undei which the security of the country was behind the borrowing local authority which could raise it* loan either in New Zealand, Australia, America, or Et:g land. FINANCES STRAIGHTENED OUT. As to the Treasury Bills, they hat; btten paiu off; every shilling was pair at the end of tho tinancial year. »< ii! regard to the reserve* fund security r/hat had happened was that the pro rious Government gave instructions t< [>ay off one-third, but it was not paic

off. .That one-third and the other two* thirds bad been now paid off, so that the reserve fund security was free f-nl unencumbered. They would thus 'vo how much moro satisfactory the •- * t-

tiou now was as company £T.h ■ ->• years ago. The present Govefr' with tho assistance of the people country (Tho remainder was -.<■>•■ ~< applause and uproar). When they too\ offico they found that during tbo present year—January Ist to December 31st £3.000,000 of* short-dated debentures fell due. and had to be pfiid. Tfccy bad to find that money in addition to money for tho ordinary requirements of tho country. (Applau?e and cheers.) To do so it was necessary to go on tho London market. They had taken no risks, and had sent the Minister of Finance to London. a«d he raised the loan and found no difficulty in doing so. Th»> amount wns £3.000.000, and it kcDt tho public work* of tho country going. The ucxt difficulty they had to face wns in connexion with tho shortdated debentures. TWO LOANS CONTRASTED.

After somo interruption, Mr Massey continued, and said that the Government asked their agents at Home to notify them cf the first opportunity of placing £1,500,000, and tho opportunity came sootier than it was expected. Within one hour and a half after tho loan beiug placed at the Bank of England, the- investing public offered £5(5,0C0 v ,000. Ho asked* them to consider how the credit of the country stood when five times tho amount asked for was offered. Ho asked them to compare that with the Dominion's experience tt;:eo years previously, when, instead of five times tho amount wanted being offe-ed. tho British investing public only took £7 out of every £100. and £<33 out of every £ICO was left in tho hands of ,tho underwriters. Tho present Government got offered five times the amount asked for. (Cheers and boohing.) He know that there wero people who would say that tho rate of interest was not the same in tho ono case as in tho other, and that was so. The previous Government's loan was raised at 3$ per cent., but it really worked out at £4 ios 4d per rent., whilst in tho present Government's case tho rate of interest was nominally 4 per cent., and worked out at- £4 4s Cd. Consequently the cost ot the £5, 000,000 loan was* very much greater than in the caso of tho loin raised-by the present Government, and tho people of Great Britain wem' not nearly so ready to como forward to lend money to tho previous Government as they were to lend it to tho present Governr-oiit. (Applause and boohing.) THE MAYOR INTERVENES. A % th M i UJK, t" r o tho Mayor r~-~ and said : —"I say, boys " Ho was not able to proceed owing. ,m hoohm Z a "d interruption. «•+. 03 V' *ho;Mayb r again essayed; "it's only the boys— ■-" There was considerably more interruption. " When it had died down somewhat tne Mayor said:—"l am sure- no gentleman would behave like that " (Interruption.) (Turning to Mr Massey, he said, "They don't know any bettor, Mr Massey."). ' CUSTOMS TAXATION. Amidst continued interruption Mr- . Massey resumed. "1 stand hero tonight," ho said, "to tell you this:Thero has not been any increase in Customs taxation, not by the hun-" dredth part of a farthing. I stand by that statement, and I am prepared to ' prove it. There has been an increase in one direction—wo asked Parliament to increaso tho graduated band tax on unimproved estates' of a value of £30.000. and the net return has been £40,000 per annum. That increase was for tho purpose of encouraging- and assisting in breaking up large ostates." (Moro interruption!) 'Mr Massey added that when Parliament met he would bo able to lay on tho table of the House a return showing that since tho graduated land tax was increased over - 1XXX),000 acres had been subdivided.--"' The return was not quito complete

yet. INCREASED IKPENDITURE. It was stated that the present Government had increased the expenditure and had increased borrowing* They had to increase borrowing in order to meet the liabilities left by thoso who preceded them. They hail increased the expenditure because they found, on taking office, that the Pub-' be Service was seething with dissatisfaction. Some branches had not been properly treated. Tho Railway J>epartment was one, and tho Minister ot Railways had asked for authority to increase tho salaries of railway om-' ployees by £100 000 per annum. (Applauso and boohing.) Now, tbo railray employees wero hotter satisfied, find during the recent industrial troubles there had been no more loyal set m men. - J -

THE SCHOOL TEACHERS. The school teachers had reason to complain because their salaries had nob been revised or reviewed for many years. Tney had notified Ministers an* Parliament that tbey wore not satisfied, i ,;' n . ister! Education (who wan also Minister of Finance) did not hay©the time or opportunity, during the first session tho Goyernmont was "n power, to do what was right to the teachers, but he brought down a tentative measure last year which increased tho salaries of those receiving tho lowest pay, and promised that during the coming session more would be dono. A BUI had been prepared t and would ba submitted to Parliament, and when ifc„ was submitted it would be found that the school teachersvof the country would have more justice done to them than had been dono to them in years past. THE POLICE FORCE. Without any hesitation he said that tho members of tho police force wore not well paid for the work being done and the responsibility, cast on them. TfcoMimster in charge of the Department had asked for an increase. There were • three Dcpartmente ii which increase, had been made, and he said to those ' opposed to them that if they were not satisfied with what tbo Government wero doing, were they prepared to vofcg against them? (Continued applause). They did not have the pluck to move a vote of want of confidence.

I THE WIDOWS' PENSION, i There had been increased expenditure in connexion with the Pensions Act. . Ono of tho pledges made by the Reform Party was to reduce tho ponsioh ngo in respect to women from 65 to 60: Tho proposal was submitted to Parliament last year and was now tho law of tbo land. Sir Joseph Ward had referred to the widows' pension, but; , like many other Acts, tho present Go->' vernment had improved it. Previously a- widow's pension died with hor, but now, under an amendment of tho Act* tho pension was paid to a trustee for the benefit of her children, and was used by tho .trustee for their maintenance and education. "Then there are cases where the woman is left even worse off, and where ehe has possibly to maintain her children,'* said Mr Massev. "1 alludo to those cases whore her husband is afflicted with mental dhseaso —like our friends in front here." ho added parenthetic- . ally, amid loud laughter and approving indicating somo particularly noisy and offensive interrupters, "In such cases she has only to make application to the proper and. sho can draw a oenßio.tb,.just the same a-s though hor husband wifs dead." (Ap* plause.) MILITARY PENSIONS. Tho speaker then referred to the good ivori: dono by the present Go- *-• vernment in the matter of providmgY pensions for the veterans of the Maori War. Three years ago when the clco

lions were coming on, he remarked, the ■Government in power had brought down a Bill which it was alleged would provide tho old veterans with pensions, but, as a matter of fact, all the Bill did actually provide for was to allow the old soldiers to take their choice between a military pension and an ordinary pension I "It practically allowed thorn," *aid Mr Mas-s-ey, *Ho take their choice as to whether they would have 10s or half a sovereign. ' When the present Government power it at once took steps to rectify this state of affairs, and a Bill was brought aow.n in 1912 and another in 1913, and finally it was arranged that the old veterans should receive "a pension" of €36 per annum, which was" £bme little recompense for the toils and hardships they had endured during the Macn War. (Applause.) THE SAVINGS BANK DEPOSITS. Harking back to matters financial, Mr Massey said that he had meant to make a passing reference to the deposits in tho Post OSce Savings Bin':. Taking the first quarter of last year, he could tell them that the deposit? ted exceeded the withdrawals by £07,091. whereas for a similar period of this year the deposits had exceeded the withdrawals by no less t*iin £34_._'J'S). This was a tolling point, and indicated the general prosperity of the country, and he mentioned it to show that some of the gloomy misstatements made by the Opposition were not founded upon fact, to say the least of it. NAVAL DEFENCE. The Prime Minister then touched upon the matter of naval defence, but

a renewed uproar from a rowdy section of tho crowd made it rather dimcult to catch what tho speaker was saying. Referring to the" expenditure upon naval defence. Mr Massey said that the first come to between the New Zealand Government and the Imperial authorities was that New Zealand should contribute a sum of £100,000 a year; that, in addition to that, there was a sum of between £140.000 and £150.000 winch provjdod the interest and sinking, fund on the cost of the battlecruiser winch was presented to Great Britain by the Government of New Zealand. Tho total expenditure, therein ,25* n -? ral defenco was about £2.j0,000. In the year 1909, five years ago, an arrangement was entered' into by the Imperial authorities and the -New Zealand Government, to the effect that, so far as the battle-cruiser was concerned, tho Imperial Government could do as it pleased with it; but, on the other hand, tho Imperial Government agreed to provide the New Zealand Government with two light cruisers, three destroyers, and two submarines. That bargain the Imperial Government had not been able to adhere to, and when the Minister of Defence went Home, the authorities told him that it was impossible to i carry out tho contract. There remained

nothing to be dono, naturally, although a lot of correspondence took place over the subject. Finally it was decided that the New Zealand Government should increase its 6ubsidv to the Imperial authorities by That was the position to-day—(Uproar)—-aud that was what the people of this country had been willing to submit. A CONFERENCE. Now a conference had been arranged between the British Powers interested in tho peace of the Pacific, namely, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, with two representatives of the Imperial Government, and the whole question of the naval defence of the Pacific would bo discussed. Tho New" Zealand Government had now made arrangements with the Home authorities for the latter to hand over a ship for

training purposes. That boat was the H.M.S. Philomol, and the officer to command her was just leaving the Old Country now. . On the boat an. opportunity would be given to any young mon of New Zealand who wished to join tlio' navy as a career, to get a complete training, and it had been de-' cided not to shut out the Native, race. He felt suro that, despite what the Opposition said about the matter, the scheme had the hearty approval of 99 per cent; of the population of New Zealand. (Applause.) IN CASE OF WAR. Mr. Massey explained that, should New Zealand* havo a navy of its own, it would be available for use by the Imperial authorities in tho event of .war. AVhon the first shot was fired.the control of tho boat -would automatically pass into the hands of the Im-' lierial authorities, and the underlying idea of that arrangement is that there should bo no/divided control, and no suggestion that New Zealand wanted to cut the painter. He hoped that New Zealand would remain paTt of the British Empire for all time, and he. was glad to say that tbe . general scheme he had outlined had - met with the approval of the most eminent authorities ot .Britain. Some people had stated that the North Sea and not tho Pacific would bo the scone of the next great war, and that therefore the schemes for Pacific navies were umaecessary, but bo did not hold with that argument. British interests wore growing daily m the Pacific, and they had already seen what was happening on the west coast, of Canada. Personally he felt impressed with tho opinions uttered by a great soldier who had visited New Zealand some time ago, to the effect that the Pacific would be the arena of the noxt great conflict. Here the uproar had been steadily growing, and a note was passed up to Mr Massoy asking him to speak to the "people on the other side of the stand who were attentive. Tho pause, in which Mr Massey bent down and spoke to the bearer of the note, was the signal for loud cheers and counter cheers, and it was somo moments before the speaker could make himself heard again. . • '

NOT A PARTY QUESTION. Continuing, Mr Massey said that the time would surely come when they would have to depend upon the support of the Imperial Navy in the Pacific, and that, is why New Zealand is doing what she is to-day. It was not fair to allow Australia to take all tho burden, but they in New Zealand ought to boar a fair share. "What they ought to. do in New Zealand was to make up their minds how much they could afford to spend on naval defence and then spend it. Bui at ail costs they should not make a party question of such an important subject.

AN INTERLUDE.

A section of the crowd hero began to push in in front of the platform, and tho chairman stood up to try and preti.re order. Tho effect was disastrous, and tho hubbub became indescribable. No appeals to the decent instincts of the rowdies had the slightest effect, and it was somo time before quiet settled down upon the 6tormy scene. Air Massey then started to* criticise a' statement of Sir Joseph Ward's when he had said that only certain classes of* peoplo had contributed towards the cost of the Dreadnought. Sr Joseph AVard had said, however. In a prerious speech, when he was Defence Minister, "that it was only fair that all classes of the community should give some slight contribution in the matter of defenco," and he (the speaker) thought that Sir Joseph- Ward was absolutely right to say so. (Uproar.) Sir Joseph had hinted that the only people who had contributed to the battleship wero the supporters of the racing clubs and those who paid death duties, and if that was correct then only a small proportion of the population had contributed after all, and it was the meanest trick that he had ever heard of.. The only excuse for tho presentation of the ship was that every man of tho community felt- a pride in being able to contribute to the'defence of the. Empire, and now this had been taken away from them, if they could believe Sir Joseph Ward, and they were made to look ridiculous in the eyes of the world. (Applause.)

THE FIRST LORD'S OPINION. Mr Massey then read an extract from a statement mado by the First Lord of tho Admiralty, which approved iof tho suggestion that the Dominions should maintain cruisers themselves. It was a 6 follow:— "The Dominions should locally maintain the light cruisers necessary, not for fighting battle fleets, but for commerce protection in their own waters, aud I these cruisers would also combine with the Imperial squadron or detachment of the British fleet, when it arrives, to make the fleet complete in all respects. Iv this way a truo distinction will be made between the services which aro essentially local and those which are necessarily of general Imperial character. The Dominions will bo afforded that individual local development which is necessary to rou<?e and maintain a keen naval interest and to procure from them the sacrifices necessary for tho maintenance of development of that naval power, whilo at the same time by sending any capital ships they may have or acquire to the Imperial squadron they will create a really strong effective naval foree —not one or two ships isolated on particular stations — which will be able to move rapidly and freely about the world, bringing aid in sufficient strength wherever it may be needed in time of war That is the rigrt policy." "I agree with that opinion to the full," said Mr Massey. He went on to warn them against trusting wholly to the Anglo-Japanese agreement. A navy could not be built in a year, nor possibly in fivo years, but they could try to do the best they could, and he hoped that what ho had said that night would remove some of the misapprehension and misstatements that had been made. At any rate, the Government intended to provide as adequately as poesiblc for tho defence of British interests .in the Pacific. (Cheers.) PUBLIC WORKS EXPENDITURE. As head of the Government he was glad to say that in view of the opening of new markets tho timo had come to givo tho primary producer a help and to ensure that tho country made the very best of tho productive power of its land. To do this the opening of new country was necessary, and roads and bridges and general means of communication must be opened up. The Government had an elaborate programme in hand and were going to do pll that was necessary. They would build bridges and form roads and construct railways where necessary, and next session Parliament would be asked to grant a large sum of money, including a special grant for roading the out districts. • PLEDGES. Mr Massey dealt trenchantly with tho allegations, that tho Reform Government was a minority Government, and said that two-thirde of tho people of tha country, were in favour ol the Govomn._nt of Reform. (Loud cheers.) He spoke on the lines of bis previous speeches regarding the allegations of pledge-breaking, and pointed out what had been done by the Government during the short time it had been in office. They had made the law so that the settler on Crown lands could now convert .his, tenure, into the freehold, and this would, he predicted, would remain the law of the land whatever happened to parties. They had steadily adhered "to the progressive policy that had been laid down, and considering the time they had been in office, had done well. Ho felt that he was \pafo in saying that if the Opposition came into'power at the next election ; they would not„repeal any of the legislation that the Reform Government had 'placed upon .tbe Statute Book. ."-.,'.■■ , '-;< '~. I LAND S3-OTLEAIENT. ; j In answer: to some interjections, M» Massey said that the' policy of land

settlement by the Government had been very actively carried out. They had found that the Crown lands were coming to an end, and.so instructions had been given to the Land Purchase Board to buy in the large estates and to purchase blocks of land in convenient localities. This policy had been successfully carried ont, and: in. Hawke's Bay alone they had purchased no loss i tKhn. 37,000 acres, which had been divided into about 300 holdings. (Applause). In 12 months the Land Purchase Board bad bought 141,000 acres, which "had been nearly all settled at the present time, and as a matter of fact, during the past 12 months the Government' bad acquired just ten times as much land lis their predecessors had in the 12 months previous to the Reform' Government's coming into office., "We are'going to stick to'our land policy," said Mr Massey, "and we are going to see the land producing every penny that it can be made to do." (Applause). ■•

"Then," pursued'Mr Massey, "wo have launched out, in other ; directions. In coming the train from Dunedin I saw one of my first settlements. It is near Timaru and is prospering.exceedingly. A year or so.ago I -was offered the land at what". I regarded as a very reasonable figure, and I; gave instructions; for it to be purchased.. It was divided up into.five-acre -sections and houses wero built on it and it Was offered to settlors on terms which .permitted them to purchase their land at the end of 25 years. All the-houses are occupied, and the. first crop has been grown, and the wholo proposal is quite successful." (Uproar.) ..■':-.•:•■ A voice: Did you put the Liberals on? ■ Y''Y "•"-'-'. ''"•

Mr Massey: If you arc a,specimen of a Liberal I would not have you on at any price. (Langhter and applause.) "I do not'ask what a man's politics are," continued Mr Massey. "If he is an intelligent man and a patriotic man I find, however, he always supports the Reform Party." (Loud cheers"and applause.) \ '~

"The men-are there," he Continued. "and they are-going to do well. In fact I have heard what I did not expect to hear,iand-that is that some of these men are going to make a living off their five acre sections. (Applause). If they can do that I don't object, but the class of man I wanted.to help was tho industrious, - reliable man, who wanted to improve his.position in life— the man who did some shearing; some road work, some fencing, and had a certain amount of time to spare for other work. These were the men he had encouraged to take up-the sections. It had been said that he was tying these men to this land for 25 years. That was not so. -If they, were able to improve themselves and undertake a larger section, then he would be very glad to let them have it. All ho stipulated was that they should comply with tho proper conditions for closer settlement. ''I want to help the industrious man and the worker," declared the Prime Minister, amidst- uproar and confusion. "I have _po - time for the waster.'' (JWnewed uproar). WORKERS' HOMTTS. "That system," pursued Mr Massey, "is really an extension of the system of workers' homes. I have not stopped, the system of workers' homes, but when I came into office I found itself quite unable to meet all tho requests made to mc, so 1 ai&ed County Councils and the Borough Councils to co-operate with mc. This was agreed to by legislation passed last session, and now any County Council or Borough Council can purchase land and build houses thereupon tor the workers in its neighbourhood. But Lam going even further. A lot- of arrears had accumulated, and deposits of £10 nad been paid upon these .applications. 1 did not think it fair to. retain this money without providing-the homes, and so I have secured the authority of Cabinet- to erect one~hundred"houses in the course of next year.

A voice: AVhat about the advances to workers last year? Why did you stop the advances? Mr Massey: No decent- worker was

obliged to go without who could give the proper security. ; The voice: They could not get tho money. Mr Massey: There was not sufficient money left in the Treasury. Bcforo we camo* into office the las>t Government had reduced the advances.to settlers to £500, and the advancesto local bodies to practically uothing. Wo have raised the sums, because now wo have- plenty of money, as the financial position of the country has so improved th3t we have sufficient for all purposes. "And it has improved," he emphasised amidst loud dissent, "because there is a good Government at the head of aifairs." (Cheers.)

A.voice: You promised to he a nonborrowing Government. Mr Massey: "I did noth'ng. of the sort. What we said was that we would sec that every shilling of the money of the public was properly expended, and that no more money would be borrowed than was actually required. And 1 say that again to-day." (Cheers.) Mr Massey went on to say that the Government intended to put first-class men in at first-class salaries rather than third-class men at third-class salaries. A voice: What about Boyd ' Garliek'•' Mr Massey: "Mr Garliek is a firstclass man, and if you have any knowledge of the contemporary, history of the country you will know that those who are authorities in the educational world ere saying that tho appointment of Mr Royd Garliek was a first-cla«s appointment.' and that ho is earning his salary."' (Loud applause and boohs.) ELECTION YEAR. "Somebody suggested just now," said Mr Massey, "that it was because this was election year that we wero increasing the provision for tho workers' homes. Now 1 will prove you are wrong—as you always are. (Jeers.) For the six years prior to our coming into power the Government erected -00 houses at a cost of £146.622;" and since we have been in power and up to the end of the coming financial year A voice: That is your limit. Mr Massey: "That is where voii are mistaken. (Dissenting jeers.) The wish 'je/rV) tC> y ° Ur tho "£ ht '" (Renewed-

boJn°" Tol ' Ce: You should never havo

Mr Massey: "If T ] ia d to rely on the support of people , ike you T would 11 all, out of office. (Applause.) During £imi 4\ }lo, ' se ;' s . at a < >0 «t «f = d there is no electione e V rinr (A^ TURNING THE TABLES ' At mention-of the James circul-.r from some of tho crowd V House because :of Yb« „£• ,r J the the following circular which h3 I M n ? Ugh n , orroW Tuesday) v, ?J " i -Ti l,nk express, and I thought that you a „d any of your ■friends whom you could get gether might like to see *% n Tt the station. I am certain that he would appreciate an you. I notice, by the way, ' that' " fc? m^ ing th oJullest"use"of Ins friends wherever he travels to rif„ l Up V, ece P ti ? n > and has telegraphed ' all over'the country, as having received, etc. etc.• , ' ' "Anything; in this direction " on .: our part would certainly- have a •healthy counter-effect. "With very kind regards, I remain, etc."

To further press his point home, Mr Massey quoted the confidential telegran, which Sir Joseph. - AVard had sent to all newspaper editors at the time of the gift of the Dreadnought. I ins telegram declared that thin«rs were worse than could be said,' and asked the editors not to adversely cri- *™*?'- , the . »<|*«>n' of the Government. 'This," declared Mr. Massey "is the most extraordinary. document that •I have ever heard of. (Jeers.) It actually asks the newspaper editors not to V nm e r^ Cri r ic il e th « expenditure of 4«J,U0O,000 of the people's money " (Applause and jeers.) ..Reverting to the subject of workers' homes Mr. Massey stated that' two expenditure upon workers' homes had S nt S r £, Up ° '™? r W hom ™ -had •* v S^u'^'rJ 111 * m the year- before it had'been £23,64-5.. . ' A. Voice: Who started it? nnf -^^oy : Seddon:,- in 1906. ■Ine-yoice: Did you support it 9 Mr Massey: *ca t I certainly did; and 1 am going to improve upon it. (Lond .applause and the inevitable jeers) tV hen we came into office; he continued, we spent £47,469 upon workers' homes in bur first year, and for the coming year the expenditure will not be less than £100,000. (Aoplause.) • ~.."■ ... A Voice: This is election year with^ A QUESTION OF MAJOR-PHES. - "We were speaking just now about .majorities, » declared the Prime - Minister, "and I lost a note that I wanted 1 have it now. This is the calculation that I. wanted to give you. At' last election some sixty seats were contested by both the Reform and Ward parties, and in those seats the Reform candidates polled 160,616 votes. . . A Voice:.'.You aro in a minority now.

Mr Massey (emphatically): We are not. (Laughter.) And the Ward Government polled only 148,339 votes. That is to say that in these sixty seats tho majority for Reform was 12,277. A Voice: How niany did Labour get? Mr. Massey: Labour is not definitely given, but. amongst the others which included the Independents, there wero spread 54.476 votes. (Jeers.) . Referring to tho by-eaections which had been held. Mr Massey declared amidst great uproar from tho partisan element in the crowd that at the first .Lytt_;ton election the Reform candidate had been defeated by 2000 votes and that at the by-election ho had been defeated by only 200 votes. "And at the next election," he said, amidst applause from the platform and portion of tho crowd and wild dissent from the rest, "he will be elected by a majority of 500 votes." KEEPING PLEDGES.' "I will now tell you about some of our pledges." said the Prime Minister. "We promised to. reform the public service of tbe country, and to clear it from all political influence. AYe have dono it. (Loud dissent.) There ia no political influence in connexrion with tho public tservirc of. this, country to-day Wo have appointed an independent boa"-d of *hree Commissioners, all exparie iced . and highly qualified men (Derisive laughter and.uproar.) Mr. Massey (to an interjecter): That laugh betrays tho vacant mind. Look at it!"

-Resumiug, ho said that there was now a provision in the Act which provided that any member of Parliament was liable to a fine cf £50 if he.approached the Commissioner with respect to influencing .hint in appointing any. one to the nirvico or promoting any one in the service. - (Cheers and applause.)' "Thu-a-is n>v possibility -of-any-influence now," declared Mr Massey triumphantly. .'.-:'■.-.....

When the Bill "was before the House, he continued, there were' threats of wholesale dismissals all through the service because of its operation. What were the facts ? A nuhiber of mcii- who had reached the superannuation ago had been retired from the service and their places taken by younger men, whose places in turn were taken again by

those who had passed the public service examinations last year. There had been no' wholesale dismissals at all, but just a normal movement. , "Any man who gets into the public service now," said Mr. Massey. "may resv assured that by his merit and industry he will rise to that position he is entitled to." .(Jeers and uproar and also applause.) "There is no chance now of a member coming along and influencing th* promotion of anyone unduly. The men in control are the very best, and their appointments aro nearly all based upon competitive examinations. A voice: "They are only men, aren't they?"' Mr Massey: "ATes. but they are very good men. (Applause.) A first-class man is better than a third-class boy." (Renewed applause.) THE MOST VALUABLE REPORT. Referring to the report presented by the Civil Service Commissioner. Mr Massey said that it was a most valuable leporl and showed that even if all the reforms proposed were not carried out in the first year a savijg could be effected ot £47.500 a year without a single individual in the public service suffering because of it. The improvement effected was .so great that for the future no candidate would have a chance cf securing a majority who did not support the Commissioners as well as the laud lawa of tha Government. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL REFORM. "Another of our reforms that wa» re-ferred-to by the Leader of the Opposition was the reform of the Legislative Council." (Uproar.) Now you know that all the timo they were in office not a soul in the country had a chance of appointment to that body who was not en the same side of politics as the Government, but we propose to make iit elective and it will bo elective within three months from the present day. (Tremendous uproar and applause.) AYe laid our nroposals beioro the Legislative Council because it is the written law that all reform should come from within, but they rejected our proposals both the first and the second timo. We are going to introduce it into that Chamber for the third timo, and I do not thins that this time they will throw it out. They say that we are appointing men to the Council. AYe are, and we are going to appoint a sufficient number to the Council to carry our proposals into law. (Hear, hear, and loud applause.) A Voice: It is just as well you put them there before the election. Mr Massey: I know tue boodlers ot the country don't want this reform, hut the people*do. He went oh to refer to the oartial appointments made to tin Council by the Ward' Administration A A r oice*i What about Russell? Mr Massey: "Yes, we appoiuted Sir William Russell, and in appointing h';.i. appointed one of the best mon this country has ever seen, or that God ever made. (Cheers.) »v'e appointed Russell. We- appointed Duthio. V.-'c appointed Hardy But who appointed Halbjonos, who is against us? We did. AVho appointed Barr, that wellknown citizen here " A \ T oice: A rotter. Mr Massey: The man who says.he is a-rotter is not fit to blacken his boots. (Cheers.) He is a very good man, and so is the Labour man from Dunedin an equally good man. Their knowledge of labour and industrial questions in the Council has been of very great value indeed. AYe reappointed them. Under the circumstances I ask who ara the Liberals and who are the Democrats. " Every right-thinking man. knows that the best Liberals and the best Democrats are the men who are "oh the benches at the present moment. (Uproar and confusion.-)' "And tho proof of it is this," continued Mr Massey, "I have always been given to understand that'the Tories and the Conservatives believed in class distinctions "and hereditary titles. .Well, where are the hereditary titles in the present party? (Renewed uproar.) SECOND BALLOT REPEAL. Another repeal promised was that of the second ballot. ■ A Voice: What are you going to put, in its place? .:"...-; Mr Massey: When we find something better than the present system we will adopt it. The A r oico: Give us proportional representation. You are frightened. Mr Massev: You don't know what you aTe talking about. . I am going to give.it to you for the Upper House. The Voice': You are frightened— give it to the people. * Mr Massey: What'other country in tbe world has 1 proportional representa--tion? :-•-.. .'..,.- The Voice: Switzerland. Mr Massey: We repealed the Second Ballot Act, and I tako full responsibility for it. The Voice: Yes; you will go ont for it. Air Massey: The wish is father to the thought, lou can't put us out. (Uproar and confusion, in the course of which the crowd began to pass chairs to the rear. In tho confusion.a lady was getting a little knocked about, and Mr .Massey appealed for care for her. "It is a very cowardly thing." he said, "to interfere , with a woman like that.") "AYe repealed the Second Ballot Act." summed up Mr Ma«sev, "because it was the most objectionable .measure that was ever placed upon the Statute Book of any eonntry in tho whole.wjisjd. (Cheers.) It was an obsolete and worn-out system years before it was introduced into this country and had been abolished elsewhere, it was brought . into operation in New Zealand for . a political purpose, and from a political point of view it was a rank failure; The whole bitterness, of the electiouwas concentrated upon the week between the first and the second ballots. (Loud uproar.) NO TRICKERY. _ To an interjector, Mr -Massey loudly declared there was no trickery in connexion with the repeal of the"Act. A Voice: Of course there was Mr Massey outlined what had happened. The Opposition had wasted time, but had forgotten that he could move the repeal in a clause added to a Bill which had been introduced into the Upper Cliamber. . They stuck that up for a week. Tho voice: Pity they didn't stick rfc up altogether. t Mr Massey: They were afraid because I gave them plainly to understand that I was going to ask for a dissolution. (Loud uproar and A voice: Not you. I Mr Massey: It is absolutely true a.nd before I leave Christchureh "l will' cite tho proof of «'t to the Press of this city (Uproar). Directly I told them this their delay broke down and they passed the Bill. (Cheers and uproar). AN INTERLUDE. An interjector at this stage loudly declared that Mr Massey did -not understand proportional representation. Air Massey retorted: Proportional representation is representation of a minority and the second ballot is representation of a majority. The interjector: It is not.

Air .Massey: You ask for proportional representation, and you don't know this; That proportional representation means .minority representation. (The voice: It does not), and that the second ballot- means tho representation of the majority. (The voice: It does not). . Air Massey: Well, yon don't know anything about it. The second ballot means that the minority are ignored and" the other means that the minority only count. ' '-' ■■',-"

THE STRIKE. -'■ 4i Now when Sir Joseph Ward (cheers) was 'down here" he" told you that he Could' have settled the strike in two das. _ (A Voice: So he could.) - . Mr Massey: Then why didn't- he settle the strikes that he left us? The voice: There were no strikes. Another voice: AVhat did the Defence

Committee cost, Bill? What did tho Citizens' Defence Committee cost? Mr Massey:. I don't .know.. The voice: You know. Tliem you give the batons to, to murder us witli. (Cproar). Mr Massey. went on to give the figures of the strikes in New Zealand history. From 1894 to 1906 there were uo strikes at all. In 1906, wheu Sir Joseph Ward came in, there was one ttriko, and in the next year there were twelve strikes. A voice: Were iho ports closed then? Mr Massey: There wero no riots like last year, bir Joseph Ward, he added, proposed to settle the strike by a seciet ballot and by 'reading tho lliot Act. Now the Riot Act meant martial law. and that meant ball cartridge and loaded rifles. A voice: That is what you ought to do. . Mr Massey: That is not the way to settle a strike. The voice: What did you do with tho sailors? Was that a constitutional act? Were not you reprimanded by the Admiralty for that? Mr Holland : Here, who's making the speech, you or tho Prime Minister. The crowd: Boo! Sit down. "The way wo settled tho strike," continued Mr Massey. "was to bring In a sufficient number of specials to keep the peaco. (Uproar.) That is tho way we finished it." he said, "and in the event of tho same trouble coming again i would do the very same thing over again. AYe will adopt the same toetics a«'>ir. (Uproar.) AYe will ask for a set of men as specials that will cnabie us to -keep the peace. (Uproar.) I takeit that it is the first duty of the Government of a country to keep law and order (uproar) to open the ports or the country (uproar) for tho commerce of the country (uproar), and to maintain trade. (Uproar.) Tha* is what we did, and we will do it again. (More UF A° Voice: You will never, have tho chance again. ' ... M- Massev: That is exactly what is rilin" you people. You know that wo would "do the same thing and that annoys you. A'ou want that other man to come in, as you think he would not do this. What had the Liberal Party been able to do? In three elections they had been unable to win ono seat. At Lyttelton a "Red Fed." had got in —(cheers from a section)—and at Grey another "Red Fed." had got in—(renewed cheers from tho same source) — and at Eemont the Reform man had got in. Thus in three elections the Liberals had shown they were impotent. A Voice: They aro not "Red Fedis" they are Social Democrats. Another Voice: What about Mr Robertson and Mr Veitch ?■

Reverting to tho strike. Mr Massey said that in Sir Joseph "Ward's timo there had been sixty-three strikes in the country. Why did not he settle them? He didn't settle one!

A A r oico: The workers got what they wanted. ARBITRATION OFFERED. He had offered Air Justice' Williams, said 'Mr Massey,"six weeks before Sir Joseph Ward had thought about it, and the proof was in the "Maoriland Worker" to-day, but they did not accept it. "Thero was only ono thing for us to do," continued the Prime Minister, "to ask for assistance. AYe got that assistance and the strike fizzled out. Don't make any mistake about it.. I have no apology to make for the strike. I did my duty as I am prepared to do on every occasion."

A A r oice: What is your policy? Mr Massey: You can't bo a person of very much intelligence if you can't grasp my policy from what I havo said. You don't know a policy when you hear it—that is your trouble. A STOLEN POLICY. "When I spoke about workers' homes," proceeded the speaker, "there was one point I omitted. I claim that I was the first man in the New Zealand Parliament to propose what is now the i Advances to AVorkors Act. (Uproar.) Mr Massey: You are afraid to hear j the tTuth. Listen to this: "Moved by !Mr Massey, member for Franklin, 'AAlien a loan is required for tho erection of buildings on urban or suburban land which is not subject to any other encumbrance, the cost of erection (not (exceeding four hundred pounds on the whole, and not exceeding four times tho value of the land) may, in the direction of the Board, be advanced by instalments as the erection of the building proceeds.'" That is my motion, but it was thrown out. because it was my motion. But within a month it was re-introduced and made tho law of the land. (Applause.) CIVIL SERVANTS GRATEFUL. "Another point, dealing with the Public Service," continued the speaker. "Here is the opinion of the chairman of the Cliristchurch Branch of the Pubhe Service Association, publicly expressed by him at the annual dinner of the Association. He (the chairman) said that 'it was to the untiring efforts of Mr*Herdinan that they largely owed the system of Commissioners' control, with its attendant classification scheme and Board of Appeal. They heard much about dissatisfaction with the system, but in Christcburch they .were very hazy about the grounds for dissatisfaction, and were very certain of the solid reasons for gratification that the officers of tho Service wero under expert continuous supervision; that merit was to bulk largely in promotions, that young officers speedily a living salary, that futures were generally known a few years ahead, that in lean years the Service was not necessarily the first to feel the knife of retrenchment, and that there was an independent Board of Appeal ready to give everyone a fair and impartial hearing.' That is the Christchureh opinion of the Public Service Act!" (Applause.) A Voice: That is out policy! WHERE DO THEY STAND? Mr Massey: They say we stole their policy. A r ery well, if they are Liberals and we stole their policy, than it luustf be a Liberal policy. (Laughter.) ..e have improved the old-age pensions as wo said we would. AVhat is the Opposition's policy at the present moment*' They have absolutely no policy at all! All they can do is to go about the country slandering their opponents, talking the most awful piffle that any man ever listened to. Do you remember all the "mares' nests" they discovered? Yes, of course, you do! They call themselves a political party, but- they are opposed to one another. Take the land question—half of them are afraid to vote against us and go into the lobby in favour of the freehold when we propose it. The other half of them vote against it. Take tho question of Socialism and Individualism —ask them where they are. and you will find that half aro Socialists, and half individualists, or nearly half, and a very few who are neither one thing nor the other. Thero are "Red Feds.' 'somo "Spoon-feds,"' and some "AVell-feds," There are some who are not in favour of the defence- system, some who are Militarists, and somo who are .Anti-Militarists, a-nd some don't know what they are. Some are Freetraders and some Protectionists, but there is only one point on which they arc not divided, there is only one point on-which, they are agreed—they think it will be_ a splendid thing for themselves if they pecure a majority in tho House, oust the present Government and get into, their places. (Applause and laughter, to the accompaniment of groans from a section of the" crowd ) A- Voice- They will never do it. "EQUAL TO ANY EMERGENCY .'?

"Now my time is nearly up," concluded the Prime Minister, "but I have got. another five minutes. What this country wants, andwhat it has got is a Government equal to any emergency And the people are going to support the present Government. The i«ue is perfectly clear, and perfectly "plain,

and perfectly simple. The present XSt vernment is on its trial, and I ajsi any right-thinking man to look inio oar "legislation, into our administration and say whether we havti not done tie right thing, fighting against tremendous difficulties. The verdict of aiiv intelligent person must bo that Ye have done well. \ A Spectator (waving a broken chairleg): "This is your "square deal!" Mr Massey: I'nder our control and under our guidance thi> country h as prospered exceedingly. It is a Government oi" New Zealamiers. for New Zez landers, by Now Zealandprs, aud when the time conies the great majority 0 f the people of this country will* sawn have done well.*' Mr Massey sat down amidst an out burst of cheering that dro-aned thn organised interruptions of the enenu'4 of "free speech." Cheers fcr the speaker were called for, responded to accompanied by the singing oi <;j. ' he's a jolly good follow." THANKS AND CONFIDENCE. Mr H. D Acland moved : — "That thLs meeting thanks the Prime Minister for his address and expresses its coruidonce in the Government." Mr C. AY. Elliott (Rangiora) seconded the motion. Mr William Lawson, who had been a persistent interjector. moved as aii amendment, ''That Mr Massey ho thanked for his address, hut that this meeting has no confidence in his Go vernment." The amendment was seconded by Atr H. Starkey. The Mayor put the amendment first It is doubtful whether many peopb heard him, for it was difficult for a voice to be heard above tho uproar* As far as could he seen only a handful of persons supported the amendment His AVorship then put the motion, askins for a show of hands. Asrnin a iartre section of the crowd faiW]' to what was promo- on. but a poodly number FKm'fied thf>ir approval o s the motion. The the motion carried by a large majority.