THE ELECTION TIMARU SEAT

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26513, 30 August 1951, Page 8

THE ELECTION TIMARU SEAT

NATIONAL PARTY’S CANDIDATE

MR W. L. RICHARDS GIVEN GOOD HEARING (From Our Own Reporter ) TIMARU. August 29. Mr W. L. Richards, the National Party’s candidate for the Timaru seat in Parliament, addressed an attentive audience of about 140 persons in the Scottish Hall, Timaru, this evening. There were no interruptions during his address, and his remarks were often warmly applauded. “There is only one issue at stake in this election—our liberty and all that we hold most dear,” said Mr Richards. The reason for the election was not the fear of the National Party of what was going to occur in 1952. The Government had been dared to go to the country by the Labour Party. “They speak of dictatorship,” said Mr Richards, "but it would be nearer to dictatorship if the Labour Party were returned to power in this election.”

St. Matthew had written, “He that is not with me is against me,” said Mr Richards. That had been the effect of Mr Nash’s "neither for nor against” attitude during the recent strike. The National Party had been charged with Fascism, and had had to turn to the country for its verdict. “No Dictator Must Rule”

“No dictator must rule this country, be he National, Labour, or Communist,” Mr Richards continued. “If I thought that Mr Holland was setting himself up as a dictator, I would withdraw my support for him and his party to-night.” The recent waterfront dispute had been the greatest industrial crisis New Zealand had ever faced, said Mr Richards. Circumstances now were not the same as when the Liberal Party fought the Reform Party early this century. Both parties had stood then for the good of the country in their own way, Mr Richards said. He himself had always been a Liberal, and had thought that Liberals always had the interests of the workers at heart. Pamphlets which were distributed by the strikers’ underground committees in Auckland and Wellington during the waterfront dispute were some of the vilest documents he had ever seen, continued Mr Richards. They were full of vilification of all decent workers, and filthy language. Those who produced these pamphlets were the sort of men the emergency regulations were aimed against. “The regulations were drawn up for the protection of you and me—the protection of our homes and properties," Mr Richards said. “The regulations were carried out with fairness by the police. No nobler force than the police works for the preservation of law and order in New Zealand. The police carried out their orders with the least harm to anyone.” Although Mr Nash . repeatedly claimed that mail had been opened and telephones tapped, he could never prove his allegations, said Mr Richards. “When his charges were thrown in his teeth, he could not verify his claims,” he added. “No Scare Tactics’’ Mr Richards said: “The Labour Party is charging us with adopting scare tactics. I can assure you there are no scare tactics. I can assure you that if Messrs Barnes and Hill ever become the head of the watersiders’ union again, as they will if the Labour Party is returned, the security of Timaru watersiders is gone. “Messrs Barnes and, Hill would not forget the moderate attitude of Timaru watersiders.”

Mrs J. M. Ratana, the Labour candidate for Western Maori, had said during her 1949 campaign: “All the good jobs in the Maori Affairs Department are occupied by Nationalists. You vote me in, and I’ll see them out” It would be a sad state of affairs, continued Mr Richards, when men lost their jobs because of their political views, upon a change of Government. “A man is entitled to his views, wherever he works, but if he holds views which would sabotage industry, I would say, out he goes,” said Mr Richards. “Freight accounts for one of the main charges on all our imports from overseas. We cannot insulate New Zealand from freight charges.” The shipping companies had not been blameless over the years, he said. They had not been angels. “Dear old people have been told that when the National Party goes back in 1951, free beds in the hospitals will go,” said Mr Richards. “Even this afternoon I had to reassure one old lady in Timaru, and put her fears at rest.

Communists Attacked “This is the sort of evil whisper being spread by the underground of the Left Wing of the Labour Party and fellow-travellers,” said Mr Richards. “These evil murmurs are completely unfounded. “Communism grows through Socialism. The Labour Party as a whole to-day is not Communist, but the inner circles which dominate the party are definitely Communist “Two-thirds of the world to-day is under the shadow of the Kremlin. You may say it cannot happen here. I say it can happen here, unless you exercise your democratic right, and vote for the National Party on Saturday.” After Mr Richards’ address, a member of the audience said Mr Richards had claimed that the emergency regulations during ’the waterfront dispute had not affected one citizen of Timaru. If that were so, why had the Civil Emergency Corps been formed in Timaru, and why, to the questioner’s knowledge, had it never been disbanded?

Mr Richards replied that when he addressed a public meeting of interested men during the strike he had, before calling for volunteers, specifically said that the corps in Timaru would hold no parades and make no chow of force. It had not been disbanded partly because of pressure of work, and partly because of an overeight. The corps would be disbanded, however, as soon as possible.