THE OPPOSITION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 308, 22 September 1908, Page 8

THE OPPOSITION.

; MEETING AT PALMERSTON. ; ' SPEECHES BY MR. MASSEYAND MR. J. : ALLEN. CRITICISM OF GOVERNMENT'S POLICY. (BT TELEOEArn.—SrrCIAI. coeeespondsnt.) . Palmerston North, September 21... Yesterday Mr. F. W. Massey, Leader 'of ■ the Opposition, visited Palmerston North, accompanied by Mr. Jas., Allen, member for Brucc During, the day the visitors were the guests of: D. Buick, the Opposition candidate for Palmerston North,-who' possesses a farm', in tho' Kiviranga . district. ' In the evening Mr. Massey. addressed a gathorinig in the Opera House, his first political speech in . Palmerston North. The audience,'which was an exceptionally large one,. numbering over 1500,. was, presided over by tho. Mayor (Mr. J. A. Nash). Mr. Massey had..a yery cordial reception, and lie expressed his , appreciation of' the great • gathering, which, he said, lie took as a compliment to his cause. , (Hear, 'hear.) Ho said the rule had been that the-more tlie peoplo learned of,'their causo tho 'more enthusiastic they became. • (Hear, hear.) ' ' ; POLICY-OF THE.GOVERNMENT. • The Opposition. Leader, proceeded to say that, he '.was present ;on ,betialf' of tho,'party to which hp belonged; and part of his business there would b*o .to criticise the'policy of .the Government, only he.did not know what - 'that policy Perhaps some supporter, of. the Government in, the hall be able to .tell him.' (Laughter' and applause.) Where,' for instanco, was tho land policy .of tho Government of two. yoars ago, and what • was the land policy now p That yas a plain question which'any Minister, should be able to, ans,we'ry . but when Ministers went on to ' the platform most- of their time • was. devoted . to platitudes, and little was said!about questions, of moment., What lie wanted to know Was : Were the peoplo on the land as well off ' now as they wero ,three years "ago ? This was answered, he thought, by the fact that already under tho, tenures of the 1907 Act the demand for land was not nearly'as keen as three years ago. . .

SIGNS OF RETROGRESSION. ■ -Dealing with financial matters,. Mr. Massey showed thafthe.rato of interest, in ,the,cbun : try bad been increased during, tho past two ■ years by from one to .two .per cent; , As tlie ' great majority o{ tho business people required '. borrowed capital, tho countrywas' cpnse- ■ quently worse off.' The volunteer system' was . also at : a'- low ebb.' Our niail service, instead of being the :best in Australasia, was-a second ' fiddle to Australia. The substitution of .the . post-audit for the. pro-audit was referred All these-things were evidences, of retrogression. (Hear, bear;) So also was last year's - Gaminjg Bill. 'Ho, dealt at length with tho -latter, and said that the apostles of light and leading in the ministry/ had voted for itho legalisation of the bookmaker and the totalisa- ; tor, arid-against .the reduction of .the : number of face irieetin'gs. There -wore clauses; in that Act which were a- disgrace," and which should 1 be ' removed. (Applause.) At' the same'time he was not opposed to races and the totalisatbr in moderation.'- (Hear, he'ari) THE SECOND'BALLOT. < Detailing, tho of tbe. Second Ballot. Bill (which, he said) ■ was made in Germany-'and was "like; other cheap ' and nasty' commodities from .that country), ho declared it' was on unliberal and undemocratic'.liritjs. • (Applause.) 'He proceeded to,- explain and advocate tho; .proportional -system of He dwelt on the "gag ' clause,'.''' and' asked his' audience to L think how it was going, to effect the liberty.of the press. If this sort of thing went onU'mucb longeffwe wbilld'- 'soon. not be :living free, country. '"'lt'Vas true the Bill' did M iiot ! " come from the Tsar of Russia or the Emi; peror of Turkey, but from the Emperor J'oseph'. ; (Laiightef.) Tho press of New Zea- : land, with \ but. few ;l '.exceptions, was .'a credit to the country. (Hear, hear, and applause.) Another attempt had been,made in the Bill to gag the-press, but Parliament had done its duty.: When, however, Parliament did its duty in this way it generally took two or three weeks •to expect a recovery. (Laughter.) The Second Ballot Bill would'be .back before the House . again in amended! form, and lie hoped it . would' get . its. deserts, and that those also who voted for -it and the "gag" would get : their - dessert. , when they came before ' the - people, being cast into- outer darkness.' ' (Laughter, and applause.)

LAMENTABLE WEAKNESS. , ; ' In matters regarding which the Government 'might hare been expected to 'take a firm stand they, had exhibited, lamentable weakness. • The ' want of confidence in itself had led the Government to*delay the reinstatement of Parliament Buildings, and shelter itself behind a select committee. Tho. affect would be to land the country .in a scheme' which would cost half a' million. A great portion of'this money could be very', much better expended in opening up the back country. (Applause.) . . THE .ARBITRATION BILL. He had: not made the Arbitration Bill a party matter, sinco the desire of his side had been to. place on tho Statute Book a measure for the good of both employee and employer.' (Applause.) He was strongly in favour ofconciliation.! Confidence had to be established between employer, and employeo, and the present, unrest and hard feeling dispelled.' He questioned whether the Arbitration Act had really been the cause of the, higher rate of wages. • "Was it not the result of the pros-, pority of the country ? But the test of whe-

tlier tho workers wore.better off or not was- - .whether . more money remained ; for tho 'workers' wives after the Saturday night's bill had been paid. (Applause.) It Was the duty of .the Government to see. tliat a man received fair wages and fair conditions, of > labour, but, after that every man should be the architect of his own fortune. (Applause.) He dwelt at considerable length on this topic, and was frequently loudly applauded. . He desired also to dispel the popular impression that the Opposition'wero opposed to thein- . , terests of the working men. OTHER MATTERS. Other matters, dealt with on much' the same lines as in Mr. Massoy's Pahiatua speech, were anomalies in the public service, superannuation, universal old age pensions, • (and tho immediate' removal of disabilities at ~' present existing regarding old ago pensions), and taxation (both land and Customs). He also placed the Opposition platform before' the audience, though, saying the Opposition ' were not supposed to have a polioy. Tho policy should come from the Government, but if tho Government had not one tho Opposition would have to supply it. "I notice they are 'pleased sometimes to wear our old clothes." (Laughter.) Mr. Massey protested against t'ip misrepresentation of the Opposition by somo of the Government newspapers. Concluding, ho said he hoped, to havo mother chance of delivering an address at Palmerston before the election. (Loud ap- ' ilause.) On 'resuming his seat the Opposiiion Leader was loudly cheered. His reception had been kindly and cordial throughout. , , MR. ALLEN'S ADDRESS. , The duties of the people towards politics, folunteering matters, arbitration, and the ■ Native land question'occupied tne opening remarks of Mr. Allen's speech. "Taihoa," -• he said, had been the policy in volunteering and of the Native land question. If the Native Minister would not rid the country of this ever-present "Native land difficulty." he should be put out. (Hear, hear.) Public ' works expenditure claimed the speaker's ohfof attention. The Government were to opend an extra quarter of a million per year 'jn roads and bridges in the backblocks, but lie would point out tho promise was made on tho eve of a general election. Reference to tho past would teach a lesson. In the last two years £1,042,000 was voted and £671,000 3pcnt, equal to 64 per cent. The figures for railway construction for tho samo period WRrO . Voted,' £2,350,000: expended, £2.284.000, or 97 gorxent.j publio buddings,

£539,000 was voted and £436,000 spoilt, or 83 per' cent.; Tourist Department, voted £79,000, ; expended £87,000, or 110 per cent. In 1901 the expenditure on roads and bridges exceeded. that oh public buildings, by £256,000; last year tho excess was' only £104,000. ' Thereforo, while money was being devoted, to tho .public buildings tho country districts and tho backbloeks wero suffering. Mr. Allen also received a cordial hearing, being • frequently.' applauded. A number of questions wore asked, and a vory successful meeting concluded at 10.30 with votes of thanks, and loud clicoriug.