CAMPAIGN NOTES

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26511, 28 August 1951, Page 8

CAMPAIGN NOTES

“Grand National Party” “They have a different name now, but that is the only difference,” said Mr A. McLagan (Labour, Riccarton), after stating that the National Government had “wrecked arbitration.” “They have had a lot of different names in my time and a lot before my time. Following Mr Holland’s great public success at Riccarton, I would suggest that they might call themselves the Grand National Party.” Cost of Living

“You’ll know all about the cost of living if the Labour Party wins this election. Mr Nash, New Zealand’s greatest spender of other people’s money, will wallow in his millions, and there won’t be a Peter FraSFr to hold him in check. Within a couple of years your quid won’t be worth five bob.’’—Mr N. P. Croft (National, Petone).

Story Blown Oat “The Government Statistician’s figures blow out the National Party’s story,” said Mr T. H. McCombs, Labour Party candidate for Lyttelton, when he told an audience at Redcliffs that the National Party was saying higher prices were due to the increased cost of imported good?. The statistician’s figures showed that since the National Government had been in power imported items had gone up in cost by 10 per cent., but New Zealandproduced items had gone up 21 per cent., said Mr McCombs. Wage Rises “Mr Barclay (Labour candidate for Selwyn) has said that if the National Party goes back the people will suffer as they did in 1931: yet last year New Zealand’s wages bill went up by £50.000 000. and the greatest wage increase in the history of the country was made—ls per cent.”—Mr J. K. McAlpine. M.P., National candidate for Selwyn.

"Cheap Goods” Mr Holland and his party had promised cheap goods. “The only cheap things you can find on the market to-day are their election promises.”—Mr A. McLagan (Labour, Riccarton).

“Off Key” “The Dunedin competitions are on at present, but I don’t think the Labour candidates will win any prizes in the vocal section in this election. They are well off key.”—Mr J. G. Barnes, National candidate for St. Kilda. Election Promises

“The National Party realises that it has got to tell the people what promises it actually will carry out,” said Mr T. H. McCombs, Labour candidate for Lyttelton, speaking at Redcliffs. He held up a National Party advertisement which he said read “we will definitely do . . ~” with the definitely underlined.

Laboar Party Conference “At the last Labour Party conference, there was a motion to remove Communists from the party. It was defeated narrowly—but it was defeated. There is a strong tie-up between the political Labour Party of to-day and the Communist Party of today.”—Mr J. K. McAlpine, M.P., National candidate for Selwyn. Too Expensive “Our contention is that the Government’s method of handling the waterfront dispute was too expensive,” said Mr T. H. McCombs, Labour candidate for Lyttelton, at Redcliffs. A farmer had asked him if it was true that if the watersiders had been given all they asked it would have cost only £150,000 a year. When he had confirmed this the farmer had observed that if the farmers got all that it would take 200 years for them to get back all the money they had lost on their wool as a result of the dispute. Mine’s Record There were 248 miners at Kaitangata and the mine had established a world’s record for freedom from industrial disputes. They had not stopped for 48 hours for disputes in the last 30 years, yet there was not one State house in Kaitangata, in spite of the Labour Government’s promises to help the workers, said Mr J G. Barnes, National candidate for St. Kilda, at Anderson’s Bay. Overseas Prices

Overseas prices had been blamed by the Government for the price rise in New Zealand, but the price rise overseas had been greater when the Labour Party was in power, said Mr A. McLagan (Labour, Riccarton). He gave the increases for 1939-49 as 89 per cent, on overseas prices and 45 per cent, on New Zealand prices. Since 1949, he said, overseas prices had risen by 10 per cent., and New Zealand prices by 21 per cent. Means Test

Questioned about the means test, Mr J. R. Hanan, National candidate for Invercargill, said he thought the child allowance should be increased and made subject to income tax. As with the proposed doubling of universal superannuation and making it subject to income tax, it would help the person on the lower incomes without giving much to those on higher incomes; they would pay tax on it according to their total income.

Change of Name When Mr Holland had spoken to a little girl with a young kitten last year he had been told that the kitten was called “Sid.” On a later visit, the little girl had shown him the same kitten, but had called it “Walter.” “But,” said Mr Holland, “it was called Sid last year.” “Oh. but its eyes were not open then,” said the girl. This story was told by Mr W. A- Hudson, in the Holland Hall, Caversham. “No Short Cut”

“Mr Attlee is in the same position, and although he is deeply concerned at the cost of living, he has said he can see no short cut to a solution,” said Sir Donald Cameron. National candidate for North Dunedin, in an address at Ravensbourne. When the National Government went in, it was said that wages would drop, that there would be unemployment, and that social security benefits would be whittled away. But none of these things had happened.

Room Taken Away A room in the Chief Post Office which he had been using for years had been taken away from him by the Government, the Labour candidate for Dunedin Central (Mr P. G. Connolly) alleged. He had asked Mr Holland about it when he had visited Dunedin, said Mr Connolly, and had been told he did not think it right and proper for a member of Parliament to have a room in a post office. “It was a mean, cheap action on the part of the Prime Minister,” added Mr Connolly. “Chips” In support of his remark that New Zealanders now had more things to buy and more money to buy them with, Mr D. W. Russell (National, Avon) at Aldwm’s road mentioned the increased consumption of beef, mutton and lamb. “What about fish and chips?” asked an interjector. “I’ll tell you about that,” Mr Russell replied. “You have had more chips in your pocket under the National Government than you have ever had in your life before.” Hobbies

American troops might garrison New Zealand if New Zealand soldiers were used in the Middle East, said Mr P. G. Connolly, Labour candidate for Dunedin Central. “You know, American troops have only three hobbies—wine, women, and comic cuts.” He added that he could not understand why they read comic cuts. Prediction

“My guess is that Mr Nash will never be Prime Minister of this country. If the Labour Party does come back—and I suppose it will some day. with the swing of . the pendulum—it will come back with a new leader. Trade unionists have told me that Mr Nash has put the Labour Party back 10 years.”—Mr J. K. McAlpine, M.P., National candidate for Selwyn. Power Generation

“If hot air could generate electricity there would be no need for steam plants. Mr Goosman would be a human generating station.”—Mr A. McLagan (Labour, Riccarton). Sale of State Houses “Mr Nash says that if the Labour Party gets into power he will stop the sale of State houses after a stated period, because no one wants to buy them. Since State house tenants were allowed to buy their houses, 12.89 per cent, of them have applied to buy them.”—Mr J. K. McAlpine, M.P., National candidate for Selwyn.

Freight Surcharge “It is only off for the election because Mr Holland pleaded with the shipowners and told them he could not possibly win if the surcharge was left on.”—Mr A. McLagan (Labour, Riccarton). referring to the lifting of the 50 per cent, surcharge on shipping freights imposed during the waterfront strike.

Emergency Regulations “Did these regulations, which the Leader of the Opposition describes as ‘abrovating all human rights,’ comply with the tests required by the rule of law? I say they did in every respect, to handling the strike the Prime Minister and his advisers demonstrated clearly how the rule of law operates tor the protection of citizens.”—Mr E. P. Wills, National candidate for Riccarton.

Money for Campaign “The tide is turning. We have more money now than ever before in the history of Labour Party politics. The people have ra’lied, and the money has poured in like rain through a leak in the roof.”—Mr R. Semple (Labour, Miramar).

The Rule of Law “In Continental countries which once had been as democratic as our own people are being taken away and never seen again. It is no use saying that it can’t happen here. It can happen here, and it will, if the rule of law is allowed to be abrogated.”—Mr E. P. Wills, National candidate for Riccarton. Members of Parliament "What is the use of electing persons to Parliament who lack the understanding to know what they are doing? An ordinary blacksmith would not make a chief engineer of an ocean liner unless fullv qualified for the task.”—Mr T. F. Simpson (Wert Coast Liberal, Hutt).

Working Man “No man in this country has worked harder for what he possesses than Mr Holland, and more honestly. He is just as much a worker as anyone else. In fact, I know of no man who works harder.”—Mrs B. S. Burns (National, Wellington Central). Inflation Accentuated

Far from preventing inflation, the National Party had tended to accentuate it, claimed Mr T. H. McCombs, Labour candidate for Lyttelton, speaking at Redcliffs. He said in the last 20 months £76,000,000 of new money had been issued— £56.000,000 by trading banks and £20,000,000 by the Reserve Bank—which was equivalent to what a Labour Government had issued in 14 years. The effect of such an issue was to put up prices, he said.

Cost of Strike If the price of wool rose to 500 d a pound, the strike might not cost a penny, a questioner told Mr J. K. McAlpine, M.P., National candidate for Selwyn. “You are a born optimist,” Mr McAlpine said, “and I hope you are right—l’ve still got most of mine.” “Wings Clipped” “Insurance Arms do not like us. We clipped their wings a bit and we will clip them a bit more after September 1.” This was stated by Mr P. G. Connolly, Labour candidate for Dunedin Central.

More Money, More Goods The great bulk of the people have more money to buy more goods with at present, said Mr J. R. Hanan, (National, Invercargill). In the last year they ate more butter, lamb, mutton, beef and milk, and had more cars and radios than in the year before, which could not all have gone to the “wool kings.” The cost-or-living index had risen 14.7 per cent, since the 15 per cent, wage rise, so they just about cancelled each other. “Different Rules”

Mr P. Connolly (Labour, Dunedin Central) recalled at Kaikorai that the Prime Minister, Mr Holland, had referred to the forthcoming election as a contest between Mr Nash, a former Soccer player, and himself, a former hockey player. The occasion was a reception to the French League team, said Mr Connolly. Mr Holland had said the leaders had different sets of rules in that one used his teet and the other used a stick. It would be true to say that Mr Nash used his head, but Mr Holland always used a stick in the political and industrial field, Mr Connolly said.

Women’s Attitude The Minister for the Welfare of Women and Children (Mrs G. H. Ross) complained at a meeting that after all her efforts to establish her portfolio she had discovered that women of New Zealand did not want her. They objected to anyone who might appear to be in the “boss” position, she said during an address at Thorndon. “I have come to realise how difficult it is for women in this country to get themselves placed in positions of authority,” she added. State Houses

The taxpayer had not paid for State houses. The Government had paid for every nail driven and every dab of paint and the State tenant had to pay his way.—Mr H. E. Combs (Labour, Onslow). Millions

Quoting Mr Nash, Mr D. C. Kidd, National candidate for Waimate, said that a figure Mr Nash had mentioned was £49,000,000. An interjector: “It was £50,000,000.” “All right,” replied Mr Kidd. “What’s a million to Walter, anyway.”

Rail Ferry A rail ferry between the North and South Islands was suggested by the Labour candidate for Dunedin Central, Mr P. G. Connolly. Referring to a report on the proposal made by a commission in 1925. he said that now the railway had been completed to Picton it seemed to be a proposition which should be considered. Advances

Stories had been circulating about £87,000,000 which the National Government had advanced to private enterprise, said Mr J. G. Barnes, National candidate for St. Kilda, at Anderson’s Bay. ’Phis was brought about by the waterfront dispute. Goods which were still in ships had to be paid for to maintain New Zealand’s good trading name. Mr Holland advanced the funds for this reason, but almost all had now been paid back.