POLITICAL SITUATION.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 91, 4 June 1912, Page 7

POLITICAL SITUATION.

MR MASSEY ENTERTAINED. PRIME MINISTER'S SPEECH. WAIUKU, May 31. The electors of Franklin gathered in large numbers this evening at Waiuku, the principal settlement of the electorate, to entertain Mr W. F. Massey, who has been for 15 years their representative in Parliament. The Leader of the Reform Party was accompanied by seven of his supporters in the House including Messrs D. Buick, of Palmers-ton North; F. Lang, Manakau; i). H. Guthrie, Oroua; J. B Bradney, Auckland West; and A. Harris, Waitemata. Apologies were received from 11 other members of the party, among them Messrs J. A. Young (Waikato), and J. B. Coates (Kaipara). The entertainment commenced with a banquet, at which 100 of Mr Massey's constituents were present. Mr (J. B;irriball presided The toast of the member for Franklin was proposed by Mr A. M. Barriball.

Mr Massey, in reply, said lie was pleased to be able to say that the relations between himself ami bis constituents had been of the pleasantest possible character. During the lo years in which he had been' member for the district lie had never had an angry word with ;i single one of them. (Applause). For the generous support which had always been giren to him he expressed sincere thanks. He was particularly grateful to his constituents for their action during the election campaign in permitting him to leave his own district and travel through the country to advocate the cause of the Reform Party. What he had done at the last election he was prepared to do again when the opportunity offered and the occasion demanded. Referring to the session of February, Mr Massey said that though nearly disappointed at the time, he now realised that the best possible result had been recorded, for, instead of having entered into power at the mercy of a few unreasonable men, the Reform Party was the" dominant party in the politics of the country, solid and united, while the so-called Liberal Party had been broken to fragments. He anticipated that the next session would mark more definitely than ever before the line of cleavage between the two parties, so that all the sane, sensible and patriotic men would be on one side of the House and the faddists and opportunists on the other. Much intriguing was being carried on, and substantial political inducements to support the present Ministry had been offered to members of the Opposition. But they were loyal to themselves, in the country and to their party, and would not sell themselves for place and power. Mr Massey added ' that he could honestly claim that during the 15 years he had'sat in Parliament ho had played the game and had given his best to the country, had done his best for his constituents and hal always been loyal to his colleagues. As he had begun he intended to go on, and so long as they desired them his services would be at the disposal of the Franklin electors. (Applause.)

Complimentary speeches were made by the members present, and by representative settlers.

Afterwards a public meeting was held which was very largely attended. Cordial cheers were given for. Mr Massay when he addressed the meeting.

Discussing the political situation, Mr Massey said that the present Ministry was very different from the Ward Government, and the members who were returned pledged to support Sir Joseph Ward and his colleagues were in no way pledged to support the Mackenzie Government. They were free 'to act exactly as they choose. Analysing the constitution of tho Ministry, Mr Massey said that six of the members were oiit and out leaseholders, three were nominally freeholders, and one was doubtful. From ari agricultural point of view only one of the 10 Ministers represented in any way the interests of the farming community. Considered in reference to locality, six of them were residents in and representative of the South Island, and of the four from the North Island on© really belonged to Otago. The present position was that millions of" public moneys were being expended and! important appointments were being made by a Government which had shirked a division that would have tested its strength. The caucus meeting which elected Hon. T. Mackenzie to the office of Prime Minister pledged itself to accept the policy laid down in the Governor's speech of the February session, and he. would now like to" know whether the Prime Minister had accepted that policy. If he had not, what was the policy of tho Government at the present timeP The

speech delivered by him had contained practioally no indication of a policy. There was certainly a proposal to 'repeal the second ballot, and probably very few people would obpect to it. He would himself be one to assist in removing the Act from the Statute Book;, but, before that was done, he would want to know what system would be substituted, because he did not want any more experiments of the kind. He dismissed the speech as the most colorless he had ever heard, and as that of a Prime Minister, who either had no policy or was afraid to express his policy. (Applause). Using the words of the Wellington Ministerial journal, Mr Massey said it was time the Government rung up the curtain and shoived the people what was going on be hind the scenes. Mr Massey contrasted a recent statement by Sir Jseph Ward with a passage in the Prime Minister's Opunake speech. Sir Joseph Ward had stated that the the general election lie was negotiating for loans amounting to £4,000,000; but, when he saw the result of the elections he decided not to go on with the loans, and Sir Joseph Ward had added that had the transactions been tarried out the present tightness of the local money market would not have been experienced. That appeared to him an extraordinary awkward and most unfortunate admission by the former Minister for finance. The same subject was mentioned by Mr Mackenzie at Opuuake but he said it was gratifying that the present stringency of the money market was due to causes wholly unconnected with New Zealand. The question was, which statement was right? He would leave it to the authors of tho- contradictory statements to settle the difference themselves. The Leader of the Opposition condemned the Mackenzie Government as incompetent, and maintained that here was clear admission of its incompetence in its action in calling a conference on the Local Government Bill, a measure which had cost probably £3OO or £4OO to draft, while the conference must have cost £IOOO. Three Royal Commissions had been appointed because the Government was anxious to find a policy that would be satisfactory to the people, and it was unable to do so for itself except at very largo expense to the taxpayers. The Prime Minister posed as a friend of the farming community, but his protestations of friendship could not be reconciled with the fact that when lie had the opportunity Mr Mackenzie had not applied to his Cabinet a majority of members who were really friends of the settlers. Instead of these he had selected six men who were avowed opponents of anything in the way of security of tenure to the people of the land. Mr Mackenzie claimed that the agricultural industry of the Dominion was responsible for 90 per cent, of its exports, and if that interest were so important it was remarkable that Mr Mackenzie had not constituted his Ministry in proportion to its importance. In conclusion Mr Massey said that the Reform Party believed that it was the duty of whatever party might be in power to make every acre of unoccupied land available for settlement so that every settler might be able to obtain, the land he required. (Applause). During tho long succession Ministry abuses had grown up, and tho Opposition was striking for reform. The party did not intend to depart in the very slightest from any of the principles it advocated, or from the reforms which it believed to be necessary and which it had discussed at the time of tho general election. (Applause.) Speeches were also made by Messrs Harris, Buiek, Guthrie, Lang, Bradney and Fisher.

A vote of thanks to the speakers and an expression of full confidenco in the Reform Party and in its leader was carried with hearty applause, cheers heing given for Mr Massey and his party.

HON. J. A. MILLAR. OPUNAKE, May 31. At the close of the Prime Minister's speech on Thursday night, when the vote of confidence was before the meeting one speaker made uncomplimentary reference to Hon. J. A. Millar. In acknowledging the vote, Mr Mackenzie said he knew Mr Millar, who was an honorable man, and he (Mr Mackenzie) felt sure that Mr Millar would do the right thing at the right time. (Apphuise.) THE POSTMASTER-CENERAL. ROTOR.UA, May 31. Hon. H. G. Ell (Postmaister-Geueral), who paid a short visit to Rotorua in connection with the question of the proposed site for the new post office here, informed a press representative to-day that the telegraph business for April, 1912, showed a large increase* over that for the corresponding month of 1911. A total of 521,713 telegrams had been forwarded, of the value of £16,448, an increase in the number of 61,437 and in> value of £2154. The telephone bureani messages showed a very large increase'. Hie number dealt with was 221,364, of the value of £6055, an increase in number of 4.7,102 and in revenue of £1262. There would appear to have been an m>usual expansion of trade last month as compared with April, 1911, as the increase in telegraph business is much aJbwe the normal.

Mr Ell to-day opened the new post office at Putararu, on the AucklandRotoraa railway. Speaking at a luncheon, Mr Ell -said that Mr Massey was always complaining that Ministers were perambulating round the country, but lie considered it right and proper for thorn to visit all parts of the country in order to make-themselves acquainted with its requirements. If Ministers were chained to office tables at Wellington tho government of the country might as well be handed over to the Under-Secre-taries of the Departments.