WARM WELCOME

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20957, 11 September 1933, Page 12

WARM WELCOME

■Mr Coates on the Peninsula •BREEZY MEETING ' AT OPAWA HECKLERS REPELLED i >' Not for many years has_ a ! Minister of the Crown visiting Canterbury received such a warm and whole-hearted welcome as was given to the Acting-Prime Minister (the Rt Hon. J. G. Coates) ■when he made a hurried trip to Banks Peninsula on Saturday. The people who gathered in the Opawa Methodist schoolroom in the evening were not so friendly, but they were by no means hostile, and in any case they would have found it impossible to subdue Mr Coates, for he was in his best form, speaking clearly and almost always scoring off his interjectors. Considering the circumstances the speech is regarded as one of the best he has given. The Acting-Prime Minister fully maintained his reputation as a man of action. Arriving in Christchurch from Wellington on Saturday morning, he travelled to Akaroa, giving addresses on the way at Little River and Duvauchelle. After speaking before js large meeting at Akaroa, he returned to Christchurch in the evening in time to dine with the Hon. G. J. Smith, M.L.C., who was chairman of his meeting at Opawa. At that meeting Mr Coates spoke for two hours, and answered questions for another hour, and subsequently he spent some time in conference with the leaders of. the Coalition in Christchurch. Today and to-morrow he will speak at Sumner, Cashmere, Woolston, and Lyttelton; and he will return to Wellington by air on Wednesday, which is polling day in the by-election. At Little River Mr Coates was greeted by Mr J. O. Coop anc a large party of residents. "How are you?" he called, and after three cheers had been given Mr Coop explained: "That's how we are!" The Acting-Prime Minister spoke for about 20 minutes at the Little River Hall, briefly surveying the course of the depression and the steps which the Government had taken to meet it, and a vote of confidence in the Coalition was carried unanimously by the 100 people present. Cheers at Duvauchelle. "I want to extend you a hearty welcome on behalf of everyone here and the whole of Banks Peninsula," said Mr E. Hay, after cheers had been given for Mr Coates at Duvauchelle. After Mr Coates had spoken a vote of thanks and confidence was carried with cheering. "This is no time for wild-cat schemes," said Mr Hay in his parting remarks. "This is the time for a government with a sound policy." Between 130 and 150 people received Mr Coates in the Oddfellows' Hall, Akaroa, the Mayor (Mr F. R. E. Davis) taking the chair. He introduced Mr Coates as a man who had done a great deal for his country. The Acting-' Prime Minister spoke for an hour and. a half. On the motion of Mr L. J.| Vangioni a vote of confidence in the Government and in the Coalition candidate was carried with cheering. Only a single question was asked, and Mr Coates was able to answer that to the complete satisfaction of his audience. The Opawa Meeting. When he arrived at Opawa in the ' evening, the Methodist schoolroom was crowded to the doors, and about 100 people were waiting outside. The audience seemed complacent enough, receiving Mr Coates and the Coalition ■candidate, Mr F. W. Freeman, with applause and cheers, but Mr Freeman had said very few words before there •was a great outbreak of noisy interjection. "I recognise a great many friends ,-here who have been following me ■round all the week," said Mr Freeman. ■"I am pleased to be associated with Mr Coates and I have every confidence .'in him. But you do not want to hear me, I know." There were loud cries of "No, we don't." "I understand you have been told ■all sorts of stories in this electorate," began Mr Coates. A voice (chantr j): Around the corner. Mr Coates: I never go around 'he corner. I face the community at any lime it is necessary, whether they ■want it or whether they don't want At. Interjector Floored. A few moments later he brought down the house by replying to a woman who was heckling him: "My dear girl, the facts are all against you." "Mr Holland ought to thank his lucky stars that he is not at the head of the Government to-day," Mr Coates •went on. "Some of you people who support him so ardently would be saying: 'Now look here, George Forbes and Gordon Coates, you're not so bad, and I am really beginning to believe that you are better than this fellow.' "The real point is how to increase jprices," he was saying. A voice: By giving back the workers' power. Mr Coates: I am glad you mentioned that. T have said it before and tt say it again— A voice: Around the corner. Mr Coates: Y<?3, we will get around *he corner if you give us a hand. But sflrst wo must decide what New Zealand lives on. First voice: The workers have to live on grass. Mr Coates: You are perfectly right, Grass produces a great proportion oi "what the worker lives on in New Zca- . fland. (Applause.) A Point of Order. \ One of the most persistent interTJectors and hecklers in the audience •was Mr W. T. Conibear, v/ho has made himself prominent at other meetings in the campaign. When Mr Conibear had been talking for some minutes, Mr A. G. Willi iams rose to a point of order, and declared that he was not an elector of Lyttelton, a fact which Mr Conibear himself admitted at a later stage of ihe meeting. There were cries vt "Sit down," to ■which Mr Williams vigorously responded, and the uproar continued for some moments. The demonstration nm its, effect, however, for Mr Conl--22*. ?f P the meet, n« he was to be cEtttt conversation with Mr 84wljr Exchange. "What is the Government doing for Stria and youths between 16 and 20?" earn© an interjection. "Youths and girls?" repeated Mr Coates. The interjector: Youths, not ewes. Mr Coates: Youths between 16 and k2O are to-day being found work in I industry and on farms. I The interjector: How many arc "wre mm your farmg

Mr Coates: I don't think we have any youths. . The voice: What about a ]ob.' Mr Coates: If you are a good, honest man, you may get one. Most of my workers are married men with families. A voice: On £2 a week? Mr Coates: I don't think you will hear them complain. The voice: The women and children arc the ones that complain. Mr Coates: You are wrong. The women and children are standing up to the conditions with credit to themselves. A good many men, unfortunately, are doing all they can to take advantage of the present situation. An Informal Invitation. A few minutes later he was inter-

ruptcd with the cry, "Ashley camp." "You arc on bad ground there," he retorted. "If you filled up Ashley camp, and all the rest, you would not have as many men as were in camp in 1928 and 1929. As far as Ashley is concerned, the conditions are excellent." A woman: You take a run out there to-morrow. Mr Coates (with a smile): Would you go with me? There was loud laughter and applause. Gruff voice: The way out is the Douglas scheme. Mr ' Coates: One thing about the Douglas scheme is that I have never met any man who could understand it. The voice: We can't understand your system. Mr Coates: I can't give you understanding. "General Disappointment." Later ho was interrupted by Mr Farquhar Young, who asked: "Why have you waited two years to tell us these things?" Mr Coates: I have been in the South Island once or twice. I was in Motueka. But I didn't know there had been such general disappointment. He turned to Mr H. Holland, M.P., who was on the platform. Mr Young: Mr Holland will swear to anything you ask him, and so will Freeman. Mr Coates: Mr Holland is one of the straightest men in New Zealand. At the conclusion of his address, Mr Coates thanked his audience for their fair play. "It has been a pleasure to meet you," he said. "I have addressed electors in different parts of New Zealand and I don't remember a single occasion where I had a more receptive, attentive, and appreciative audience." A Confusion of Votes. Mr J. W. Hillary moved a vole of thanks and of confidence in the Government, and after several attempts a man at the back of the hall succeeded in moving an amendment by which the meeting thanked Mr Coates but regretted it had no confidence in the Government's policy. The chairman called for a show of hands, putting first the amendment and then the motion. The amendment appeared to have tfta majority of hands, but Mr Smith declared the motion carried. There was# a great deal of noise, and three cheers were given for the Labour candidate. Mr Coates had the last word. "You have a very Impartial chairman," he said. "He has merely declared the motion carried, when he might have said that it was carried by an overwhelming. majority*"