ELLESMERE.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17612, 15 November 1922, Page 12

ELLESMERE.

SIE E. HEATON RHODES AT SOTJTHBBIDGE. Sir E. Heston Rhodes opened his election campaign as the Reform candidate for the Ellesmere electorate at Southbridge last night. There was a "particularly large gathering, over which Mr P. Delargey, chairman of the Southbridge Town Board, presided:Sir Heaton Ehodes prefaced his address by remarking that it would probably be the last campaign at which he would contest a Parliamentary seat. The first time he had approached the electors of the Ellesmere electorate was 27 years ago—in 1899 —and there had been many changes since then. In those days there had been but two parties fighting for the victory, and thero had been no thought of a third party—the Labour Party. Ha wished there were still but two parties. Since 1899 he had been elected several times. Coming down to the 1919 election, they had been faced with the problem of having three parties in the House. It was then supposed that the Labour Party would hold the balance of power. The speaker, however, had not been of that opinion, and the Eeform Party had gained a substantial victory iu Canterbury. In the contest for the Ellesmere seat, it had beon difficult to gauge public opinion. However, the election had snowed Eeform to have a substantial majority of supporters. Although tlio boundaries had been changed, and the speaker had a substantial majority in the old part of the electorate, he was just about even in the now parti He was not sure, this year ther JMr J. C. Free would try to oust him by bringing down Air Wuibrd, but come jVlr Wnford or come hir Joseph Ward, he would still try to win. With reference to the Liberal Tarty it was a body of qu.ta a number of different political colours f-arh following in its own particular direction. Added to thia was the Labour Pariv, but tins combination would still leave the Reform Party a substantial majority. With regard to the Labour Party, they all knew what that meant. It stood for the socialisation of industry and capital. For some time it had been generally known that negotiations hal Been conducted between the Liberal and the Labour parties with a view to the levelling of the parties. Mr Masseys record Had beaten all records throughout the Empire of Prime Ministers. Ho had made his name known in the Councils of the Empire. He had fai-ed the situation with pluck and with rptimifira. He had a thorny path to face with a falling revenue and an increasing expenditure. The last budget showed a deficit of close «on £2,000,000 and Mr Massey had seen the trade slump coming and had to face it. This resuitxl : move he had made towards economy. There was still £I,OOO IM on the wrong side of the ledger, however, and it was this sum which was bothering Mr Maasey, However, thing* were improving and this year the public accounts. showed an improvement over the first eeven months of last year. They had all read the manifestos of the Reform and Liberal Parties. There was very little difference between 'the two policies. In fact Mr Maasey had been accused of stealing the Liberal manifesto. However, there was no mention in the Reform policy of the State Bank and Proportional Representation. The Liberals were shouting "True Liberalism will never die." "Did true Liberalism ever belong to any particular party?" The speaker had never opposed true: Liberalism. He felt that true Liberalism would never die but it was just as much the property of the Ref rm Party as < of the Liberal Party. Mr Wilford said the Reform Party was a party of vested interests. Did vested interests pile a land and income tax on the farmers? The farmers knew that themselves. In answer to the attack; of Mr Wilford in which he accused the; Reform Party of lack of sympathy; the speaker outlined the increased, pensions granted to various Govern-/ ment services and old age pensions. With regard to Mb own portfolios, Sir Heaton Rhodes said he knew the country was war-weary and was crying out for a reduction of drills, etc. In the House they cried out for a reduction of expenditure. Some members .spoke of the H.M.S. Chatham as a toy, and urged its abandonment. Howover, there was not to > K be universal peace. Even the League of Nations admitted that. Looking back for some years the first contribution to naval defence .rdse from £20.000. to the £IOO.000 for the battleship New Zealand. Unfortunately they were still' paying put money on the New Zealand, although she had already been scrapped. At present, he said/ the contribution Er head of the population of New Zeaad cost the Dominion 6s 8d per head, as against 80s in the United Kingdom. What of this toy, the* Chatham? he asked. He outlined the duties being carried out by her. In wartime she would protect our trade. In April, j 1924, the Chatham would be changed for an up-to-date oil-burning cruiser, j Then there was the training ship, the Philomel, which was also doing good j service. Referring to military training, he said the system had/ been sacrificed on account of the necessity for economy. The military camps had been cut out and it was here that the most valiabl* training had been obtained. Bus same j need for economy had- enforced the, retirement of a number of valuable officers. However, in the event of war they had equipment for a division. Aviation, he said, was growing in importance, and some said it was to become the first branch of the service. After the war Britain had given New Zealand quite a number of aeroplanes, I but the grant given by the New Zealand Parliament in this direction had been decreased each year. The machines given by the Old Country had been lent to the various aviation eompjihies in the Dominion. The Government was subsidising these oompnnies in accordance with their status, una paid further subsidies for refresher courses given by them to war-tiuined aviators. Continuing, Sir Heaton Rhode? said that only in one branch were they going to exceed the expenditure of jsevMHia years, and thia was in the Navy. * , The Afforestation portfolio had been handed over to him from Sir P. D. Bell. There bad been r.n enormous wastage <)f forests, and now we saw hills denuded of bush where they could have been growing trees. What w© wanted was the scientific management of our forests. The Forestry Department was going to be a revenueproducing Department in the- near future. Its revenue had already increased substantially. With regard to the War Pensions BiH, he said it was an unavoidable expenditure, and. the jtatx4 paid to date was £3,860,000. There bad been some dissatisfaction with the method of fhe distribution of war pensions, bat the .Returned BoldieTtf Association admitted that the soldiers were getting a better deal here than elsewfiere. The Reform Party was not supporting the project of a State Bonk. If this were done, the Government would ~have to give up its remunerative interest in the Bank of New Zealand. With regard to proportional representation the chief difficulty was the proportion of the country members. It had not proved a success in other countries, and it had led to the groupinit of parties. In Ttamama-it.had been a failure. The speaker admitted that the Government had made mistakes, and it had been tiie subject of much blame. It had been blamed for the inadequacy of its

its hoireint: programme, but, he outlined how it was proposed to right this situation. Thev liad been subject to criticism for their immigration policy, but the people brought from overseas did not total one-third of the number of men lost in the Great War. They had been also blamed for their method' of distributing sugar, but, he pointed out, tnat sugar in New Zealand had been cheaper than it hid bee., n any other country in th? world. The Minister had recently concluded a contract which would «ive the Dominion an adequate supply for twelve months. Referring to the threat of war on GalHpoli, the Government had been critici.'sed for its action in respond.ng to the call of the Old Country by tha Labour members. Before the Government, however, had h;»d opportunity of making any move volunteers were pouring in. He was not sure yet that they wer,» frea of war. With regard to the strike, the Government was determined that the public would be inconvenienced as little as possible. By the. suspension of the 6>h ; pp'ng and Seamen Act, they had been able to arrna for the carrying of mails. Tho Government had recently learned that a number of Cook Islanders had been stranded here, but arrangements hnd 1> <vn m.'de for their despntch home by the Tutanekai.

In conclusion, Sir Heaton .Rhodes asked for the electors' support. If he were elected he would have served for 25 years, and this would be tho last time he would appeal to them. Answering a question as to his attitude on education, he said he was in favour of a comprehensive system of education. He did not, however, advocate free University training for those who were unfitted for it. He assured those present that it was not the Government's policy at. present to buy the Sockburn aerodrome. They already had ample ground at. Burnham for an aerodrome. There was no truth in Col. McDonald's recent charges, ho replied to a further question, neither with regard to guns nor with regard to rifles. Answering a question regarding the increase of totalisator permits, the speaker said he was in favour of these increases. As the population increased, lie held, so should the people's facilities for sport. An unanimous vote of thanks to Sir Heaton Ehodes, moved by Mr E. Cowan, closed the meeting. Mr J. C. Free will contest the Ellesmere seat as a Liberal-Labour candidate. Hot will oram his campaign at Southbridge to-night.

SOUTHERN MAORI SEAT. Last week Messrs H. W. Uru and P. McDonald addressed the electors in the hall at Taumutu. Mr Hoani ■Neutira was elected to the chair, and in welcoming both candidates stated that both were contesting the seat as supporters of the Reform Party. Mr P. McDonald, of Picton, who spoke in English, said it was his first attempt to gain political honours. He would Bupport the Resform Party on a no-confidence motion, but did not pledge himself to be one of the "cogs" of Mr Massey's Party, reserving to himself the right to vote as he pleased on all other matters. The speaker, who is very conversant with all Native affairs, criticised the administration of the Native Land Department, and if returned to Parliament said he would endeavour to have the Natives of the South Island placed on the same footing as Europeans. While the Maori was supposed to thoroughly understand the civil and criminal laws of the country, when it came to the question of a few acres of land and a fow pounds, the Government said, "You don'l know how to look after that, we will have to place that in ..the hands of the Native Trustee." Once that Department took control, the - owners had no say in its administration whatever. Mr McDonald said that tho downfall of the Native race was relationship and sympathy, and in selecting* their representative he urged the peonle to Vote for a man who had ability and a sound education, and not for sympathy and relationship. - Touching -on the meat and dairy pools, the candidate said that in his opinion there should be a Board of Control at Home to look after all produce exported from this country, and then there would not be so much risk of glutting the market, as was the'case at the expense of the dairyman last season. Most of the High Commissioner's time was taken up in entertaining and attending conferences, and he could not be expected to be always looking after otir meat and butter, etc. (Mr McDonald considered that there were sufficient immigrants in this country, and said that the Government should call a halt while the country had so many unemployed. The Government had not done as much for the returned soldiers, especially the Natives who went to fight, as. they should have done. Had the Government taken the land at a price equal to the land valuation, there wbuld not have been bo many complaints regarding high price ofMahd purchased for returned soldiers. -Some seventy years ago the Government purchased from the Natives' seven million acres of land for £2OOO. At the samo time it took 13,000,000. acres, and up to date have not paid for it, although the Natives had been pressing their claim for over sixty years. Mr Massey set up a •Royal Commission last year, and it recommended that the sum of £ 354,000 be paid to the Ngitahu tribe in settlement of their claim. However, that had not been passed by Parliament. Several questions were asked and answered, and the speaker was accorded a hearty vote of thanks. Mr H. W. Uru then addressed the meeting in the Native language. He dealt with Native affairs only, and explained what he had done since he entered the House> He had had some success in gotting small Native matters passed by Cabinet (matters which had been turned down by its predecessors), greatly to the benefit of the Native race generally. He went deeply into the chief question touching the Natives, viz., the Ngitahu claim, and considered that he would be able to get Parliament to settle it very shortly. Althpugh he did not hold out any hope of the Government paying the Natives the £354,000 which was recommended by the Royal Commission, still he expected tnat they would get the interest divided amongst those who were entitled to it. The speaker urged those present to support him at the coming election, saying that as ho had only been in the House during one session, he would, if returned, do his utmost to get the Ngitahu claim settled, and if he failed then he would resign his position and let someone else have a try. A few questions were asked, and the meeting was brought to a close with a hearty vote of thanks to Mr Uru, which was carried by acclamation.

ME MASSEY AT NAPIER. (PBESS ASSOCUTIOV TELKGBAH.) NAPIER, November 14. Mr Massey addressed 2doo people in the Municipal. Theatre to-night. Though there were a number of interjections, the Prime Minister generally received a sympathetic hearing, and at the close a vote of thanks was carried with intense enthusiasm. Mr Massey followed closely on the lines of his recent speeches in ether parts of the North Island.