THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 190, 6 May 1908, Page 7

THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION.

SPEECH AT GISBORNE. THE LABOUR LAWS. GOVERNMENT POLICY CRITICISED. [by telegraph,—-press association*]'. , Cisborne, May 5. Mr. W. F. Massey, Leader of the Opposition, addressed a crowded audience at His Majesty's Theatrej last" 1 evening. , The Hon. Captain Tucker occupied the chair. Mr. Massey,- in -. opening, said that the Waiapu electorate was represented by a Minister of the Crown, tlie Hon. James Carroll, and . consequently - they-.- ,ivcro weir acquainted ith tho Government's policy and views. He was there that evening to place before themthe views of the Opposition. In-tho first P 1 ?® 0 !.;;] 1 ? had . bepn, delighted to find that - . -there .was such extent of fertile territory in the Poverty Bay district, which ex- ' ceedcd his mtfst sanguine expectations, and it was undoubtedly to the interests of the whole of the' Dominion that Gisborne should as speedily as - possible, be connected by rail, - first .with. the. Motu, . then with Opotiki, and' finally with Auckland. Not only that,' but the surplus Native lands of'"the district'should lie opened up for Euro- " pean - settlement, whilst roads and bridges ?,1, be provided for the pioneers in tho backblocks. His party had been persistently misrepresented by. the subsidised Government I l'ess, .but the' people of the colony were at length beginning _to appreciate tlie good work the Opposition was doing, and the check they' were upon the hasty and ill-ad-vised legislation. OPPOSITION PROPOSALS ADOPTED. also put'forward a* policy or proposals, and had the unique'satisfaction "as an ' Opposition of seeing these proposals carried >ittb;law. "As instances, the whole of the reveil!lle's of tho country had been brought under ' the control of tho Auditor-General, sinking funds had been established in connection with loans, and at- his /'party's- instigation they had secured tho abolition of " the sheep tax. Last session the Advances to-Workers Bill was extended to permit of' advances being made to workers both in the town' and country, and this also, though' directly passed by the Government, had been placed on the statute-book, through tho pressuro of the His party was just as anxious to help the workers as the Government, which pratod so much in this direction. -. ARBITRATION ACT. Tduching upon the Arbitration Act, Mr, Massey said the opinion had been freely ex'pressed ■ that the Industrial, Arbitration and Conciliation Act ,was on the point of break- ; ing down. He hoped, that that would not happen; as; lie preferredarbitration to • '•> strikes and lock-outs', but lie, assured the ■ audience that if this L.Act was.to remain on tho statute-book it would have to be greatly amended. . There would require to be more arbitration, and . conciliation, , and less -irritation and exasperation. He had .been glad to note that Sir' J. Ward in a recent speed; had recognised .the need-for classification! ; as tho .. present, system reduced • all to the' * dead level. Employers found;they- had to, ; pay a certain wage for an inferior workman,' and naturally they took it'out of tho. workman; • who, . under ordinary circumstances, - would havo secured all that. he could earn. Then the man who could not < earn a jninimum.wago was placed in a most'humiliating position, and frequently found'his,way on • to tho •: Government co-opera tivo ' works, where ho would not do nearly such..; good •' work as if he had been able to work under .reasonable, conditions at. his own trade. Mr. Massey thojight, that every mSnVshould' have a '.right.'to earn his living, piidi every cm-' .ployer was entiljlcd to pay proportion to ;the quantity,and quality,' of-the. work. done. One aspect of the Arbitration ■ Act was ike discouragement of. the use,of. apprentices. .If things.-wenton l , ' as'-, at, presenta largo < proportion ~/ of skilled labour required in this colony iii the future would have to be imported.-- .Our own workmen would have to accept inferior positions. AMENDMENTS NEEDED. They needed, something: iii tEe" way of . appeal on points of law from tho judgments iof the Arbitration Court.■.- He instanced tho ; case of Mr. Dixon, wlio had been imprisoned at Auckland on 'account' of an iniquitous clausoj which should never have been imposed on' a free people., 'The! RreiUief had promised to bring down'a Bill removing this, amongst other harassing clauses in Tho Industrial; Conciliation and' Arbitration Act,but thero was some'opposition, and ho therefore had not had the pluck to go on with the' amendments. Mr. . Massey ; admitted the subject was a most- difficult' ono. It- wasimpossible to put a law oil the Statute'Boolc to compel a man to work if ho did not care to work, or to force an; employer to give men : work if lie did not wish to. . The labour lawii of' the present Government had bred, a want of confidencei on the->part of the men. f : who had money, t-a invest, in industrial 'enterprises'. The . Opposition, was .continually j pointed, at ■at election time as' the . opponents of labour; but Mr. .Massey" when first re- . turned 'to Parjiahient had beeii officially sup-. - ported by the knights of labour.' Ho had received scores of letters from working men all over the' Dominion thanking- him for:' what lie- Had 'done-'in. tlifeir interests. . " ' 'SOCIALISM, i • . Mr. Massey considered-that the next im- - portant question!, for ..'legislation .'.in'-.the -.' fut-iiro was .Socialism/ Ho gave the* ' definition" _of ' Socialism as laid down by'' Mr. Keir /, Hardie and; the Fabian. Club,' and, alsci a: local definition,' whiplr.was 1 that Socialism was not'jwssiblq until the nation owns (jndj.operates industries. ism was not possible'in Now Zealand, but ho .was! afraid, thut; great hanrii;would' be done .. before, tho'pc-onlo 'of this country - realised this. . ..What, had built up this country?■: What had felled the forests and produced ' tho.jflpcks, and, herds ,which made our staple : exports? asked Mr." ; Massey. Was it not in- • dividual enterprise?. At the present time they had a Parliament which was prepared 1 to 'accept' Socialise as defined by Mr. KeirHardie.' There were somo members of 1 the Government who'supported Socialism because they believed in it, but he was sorry to say thero wero others who were prepared to sup-. ' : ' port it, not because they believed in it, but because they did not wish to lOso their seats. He bolieved in the Government, assisting, not taking tlio placo of private enterprise. , ". Tlio peoplo of this , ooloriy . were not ,going to ■ liavo lands nationalised. Thoy wero not, go- t'.; ing to hai'o industries iiationalise<l;. nor pri- • vatoVentorprise interfered 'with. 110 wamod ' the "waEe-oaruors : that with; Socialism -there. • would-bo f no,improvement in.tlieir. position. of the employers : in this country at' : thq present"tiiiie had st-arted as wage-,' ■ earners, aind were all the'better for the ox- • ; perience they had thus gained. Six members of the present Ministry were in sympathy ' ivith Socialismj and tho Premier and the Hon. Jas. Carroll, if. not Socialists,-were at least ' friends of Socialists. Mr. MasEey dealt ox- ' liaustivoly with the land question, and criticised the policy of tho Government, on tho lines of his recent speeches. ' : REFORMS NEEDED. ' Ho strongly urged the necessity for an ontiro reconstruction of our local government system, and stated that the Government aplarontly rofused to take any steps in this iircction, because of• the uso that could bo nado of the present system for party purloses.- Ho favoured tho election oh' tho ■ • legislative Council directly by the ' people, he establishment of a Civil Service' Board, lie simplification of tho public accounts," the ' '■ iptiori of tho freehold, opening up of surplus Native lands,;, and othet; measures. He obectcd to an increaso in the lmmber of 'Minsters, contending that if thoy .kept hotter [ours, and attended fewer banquots/'ttheir .vorage longevity would be quite equal to hat of other members- of the community Ir.-Massoy , received an excellent hearine ' nd was■ frequently, applauded. . -■■■ ■■ a J SO P r osont, loav&, Massey for; the South in the mornOfb :