REFORM PARTY.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20036, 18 September 1930, Page 10

REFORM PARTY.

ANNUAL CONFERENCE.

LEADER OUTLINES POLICY. [THE PB3SS Special Service.] WELLINGTON, September 17. There was an attendance of two hundred delegates from all parts of the Dominion at the annual conference of the New Zealand Eeform Party, which was opened in Wellington to-day by the president and Leader of the Party, the Et. Hon. J. G. Coates. On rising to doliver his address, Mr Coates was received with prolonged applause. He expressed gratification at the large and representative gathering, which augured woll for the future prospects of the Party. He urged upon them the necessity for working together in the interests of the Party. At the outset he wished to draw the delegates' attention to the very serious loss sustained by them during the past year by the deaths of their former colleagues, Sir Maui Pomare, Sir George Hunter, and Mr E. A. James. Organisation Complete. Mr Coates proceeded to review the organisation that had taken place since the last annual conference, and stated that if an election took place to-morrow the Party was well equipped for action. A tribute was paid to the splendid work done by the ladies' auxiliaries and the junior branches of the League. The Party could feel well satisfied with the results of the byelections which had taken place during the year. The work of the Party during the past year in Parliament wan reviewed. Mr Coates once again took the opportunity of refuting the statement that he and his colleagues had wasted the time of the House on the no-confidence debate. He stated that Government members, with the exception of two, had not opened their mouths, and the criticism levelled at the Administration had remained unanswered. The Reform Party was opposed to the policy of the Government as stated by them in their manifestos and on tho hustings during the last General Election. The Parliamentary machine was particularly inefficient at present There was a Government in power which took no responsibility and which was not strong enough to stand by its decisions and depended on the support of the Labour Party.

Opposition to Government. The Reform Party was opposed to the present Government's policies m connexion with borrowing, railway control, purchase of private estates at inflated prices, sustenance pay, incidence of taxation, and other matters. Since the last conference the Party bad opposed the tendency to revise the policy of keeping the railway accounts on a separate commercial basis. It had also opposed the penal super tax on land, and as a result of Reform opposition a hardship clause was provided and the Government this year repealed the tax. Certain features of the Unemployment Bill had met with Reform resistance, as also had the unscientific and irritating taxes employed in an endeavour to balance the Budget, which could have been balanced by simpler method* Points of Policy. Mr Coates stated some general points of policy for the guidance and information of the Party's supporters: (1) Strict economy in Government expenditure. (2) Review of tho whole policy of railwav construction (3) Removal of railways from political control and the vesting of the administration in the hands of a nonpolitical Board. (4) That unemployment should not be treated on such a basis as to attract labour away from tho farms or industry. (5) Reduction of the costs of production by rationalisation of industry and co-operation between Capital and Labour and especially the reduction of farming costs to enablo the farmers to meet the lower price levels now prevailing. (6) The constitution and promotion of industrial conferences similar to that held in 1928

(7) All Government trading departments to carry general and local taxation in the same manner as private enterprise. (8) The general principle of taxation according to ability to pay. (9) Derating of farm lands. (10) Retain the principle of national service, but overhaul the whole Defence system in the light of modern conditions

(11) Land settlement: The development of small holdings settlement of all suitable idle and waste Crown lands; group settlement as laid down in the Acts passed during Reform's regime. (12) Encouragement of scientific management of secondary industries. (13) Encouragement of the principle of payment (above a minimum wage) according to output or result. (14) Empire Trade—lnvestigations to be made with a view to bringing into effect a very much greater degree of reciprocity between the component parts of the British Empire. (15) Removal from the Maori mind of old grievances, the completion of the consolidation of Native lands, encouragement, and assistance to the Maori people in the development of their own lands. (16) Support of the League of Nations and work for international peace and goodwill. In concluding his address, Mr Coates said he was quite satisfied that in spite of the many pessimistic utterances to the contrary, he believed the country was sound, and its people thoroughly sound at heart. With care in Government expenditure, economy on the part of the people, sound investment of accumulated savings, encouragement of enterprise, and full play to the resourcefulness of the individual, New Zealand would in a comparatively short time return to that confidence and prosperity enjoyed by this Dominion in the past. (Applause.) The conference will be continued tomorrow. The delegates will attend the unveiling of the Massey Memorial at Point Halswell on Friday.