REFORM CAMPAIGN

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1135, 24 May 1911, Page 7

REFORM CAMPAIGN

SPEECH BY MR. HERRIES. SUCCESSFUL MEETING AT PALMERSTON NORTH, EFFECTIVE CRITICISM. OPPOSITION POLICY OUTLINED. (By Telegraph-Special Beportcr.) Palmerston North, May 23. In pursuance of the platform campaign of thp Reform party, Mr. W. H. Horries, M.P.', addressed a meeting which nearly filled tho Municipal Hall at Palmerston North this evening. In tho absence of tho Mayor, the chair was taken by Councillor Armstrong. Mr. Guthrie, M.P., and Mr. Arthur Bennett also occupied seats on tho platform. _ Tho Chairman introduced Mr. iierries as one of the ablest representatives in the Dominion's present Parliament. (Applause.) He also expressed regret for the absence. o£ Mr. for Palmerston, on account of ill-health. Mr. Herries, who was very well received, said ho was hero as part of a campaign which Mr. Massey and somp of his supporters had undertaken in order to put the Opposition platiorm before the public in all parts of tho Dominion. Of course, his friend Mr. Buick could do this, at Palmerston as well as he (Mr. Hemes) , could, yet he was very glad to tako advantage of the opportunity when passing through Palmerston to _ address them and put things, perhaps, in a dillerent way from Mr. Buick, who would lie in the midst of a strenuous faght in a few mouths' time. Libsralism's Backwash. Tho wave of Liberalism *Mch swept over tho country about the year 1890 did a great deal of good. It led to the passing of such good measures as tho Advances to Settlers Act, tho Factories Act, the Land for Settlements Act, and tho Arbitration Act! but the fervour of Liberally which produced those laws had passed away from the successors of .the Ballance Government, and the, measures they now passed were mostly class legislation-like Provident Fund wludiu? to the present served to be chicHy usefulor rich peoole's children, like Sir Joseph Ward's son/who was tho first contributor. Other measures were 'l" me fh. £? for their ostensible purposes like the_ Act J or gradually extinguishing the public deb . ft was no use to try.to reduce the publie debt while going on borrowing, hir Joseph Ward hrmself had taken sinking funds, if established by himself, three or four years ago when he subsequently found it more convenient to do that man to raise another loan.. The better measures of the present Government were pas«d with the. aid of the Opposition, and against many of the Governments own supporters. Thus the Land bettleiueut I'inanco Bill, which was a good freehold measure, was opposed by those who called themselves tho advanced wing of tho Ministerial party, like Messrs. Laurenson and Ell, and supported by all the Opposition members. The Liberalism of 10W had spent itself, and those now in charge of the Government were in a backwash. As an instance of vacillation on the part of the Government ho mentioned its changes of front on the questions of the trial of Captain Knyvctt, Governmeut House at Auckland, compulsory training, bookmakers, and the land question. Nobody knew what the Ward Government would do. Tho Opposition was prepared to put. before tho people a definite clear-cut policy, and if tacy were placed in power they would try to carry that policy out or give place to somo other party which could carry out a. policy. (Hear, hear.) Borrowing. Ho was not ono of those who disapproved of all borrowing,,,, j.t. Avas.neces-. sary for the country-to..borrow.for- public works, but ho. objected to the amount borrowed and the way it was spent. Sir Joseph Ward's habit of raising a larger and larger proportion of the-. loans on .debentures ■ instead of in inscribed stock was bound to lead ' .to embarrassment. For tho three years which would end in March, 1913, there would have been over eight millions of debentures falling due. He (Mr. Herries) criticised the dotation of the five-million loan, and went on to speak of tho recent increases of taxation. A voice: What would you do? Mr. Herries: If wo were in power we would reduce taxation, certainly. (Applause.) Tho splendid surplus we beard so much about was due to increased taxation. Why should we have, a surplus? It showed that either the revenue or tho expenditure had been wrongly calculated, or that the Government was taxing the pcoplo more heavily than it had any right to do.- The revenue with these increases was certainly buoyant, but the expenditure was going up by leaps and bounds, and it required to be checked. Mr. Seddon used to give people information about tho flotation of loans, but Sir Joseph Ward refused to do so. The people ought to be furnished with full information of tho cost of all loans, and tho way in which they wero floated. (Applause.) Turning next to expenditure Mr. lierries showed by comparison with figures from the Australian States tho high cost per milo of railway construction in New Zealand. Ho also gave from his own observation examples of wasteful methods of the construction of roads and bridges so that it could be said without exaggeration that a work that should bo done in six months, took three or four vears. Money spent in that way could hardly bo called reproductive expenditure. The Land Question. Tho freehold policy of tho Opposition was next enunciated by Mr. Herries who emphatically declared that he did not desire to see a return of tho regime of tho largo estates as ho knew them of old in tho Waikato. The land should ba cut up with farms of moderate area on which the owner could maintain his family in comfort. (Applause.)' Crown tenants should have the right t» acquire tho freehold—(applause)—and tho leasc-in-perpetuity-holder should be able to do so at the original value, as this was the only fair and equitable way. (Applause.) In tho caso of holders of 33 years' leases and othors the actuarial value should bo arrived at. In regard to tho Native lands, ho advocated individualisation of titles and putting the Native on tho same footing as the European. It was nonsense to talk of the white man taking advantages of tho Native's ignorance. Ho knew the Natives, and ho would say that the white man who could get tho better of a Native in a horse deal or a land deal should be put under a glasscase as a curiosity. (Laughter and applause.) The Upper House An elective Upper House on the same franchise in the Lower House, but elected for a longer term, and with larger electorates, was given as the next plank in tho Opposition platform. A nominated Upper nouse was quite out of harmony with democracy. Ho believed in tho bicameral system, but rather than have it worked as at present he would prefer to havo only ono Houso of Parliament. The Civil Service. Political appointments to tho Civil Scrvico should be absolutely discontinued. Mtrit and merit alone should bo the test. (Hear, hear.) The law now provided that all entrants to tho Service should pass the Civil Service examination, but temporary clerks were appointed. If they remained in the Service for five years they became legally permanent. This was done in many cases, and it should bo put a stop to. The Service should be controlled by a board, not composed of heads of Departments, but of outsiders. Ablo and upright men who could bo trusted, could bo found in New Zealand to ' form tho Civil Servico Board. That was the only way of removing tho Civil i Service from political influence. It had been tried elsewhere with complete success. i Local government was another subject that required attention. Year after year the Government had promised a Local Government Bill, but it had not been forthcoming. Wo had a very fair system | in the boroughs, but not in Hid counties. Tho Opposition was prepared to tackle - tho question, and they would first give the local bodies an assured finance. The present system of grants for roads was rotten. Instead of giving grants for particular reads, the Government should give I each County Council a lump sum to be

spent on such works as the council thought most, needed. The local bodies should be informed at the beginning of the season how much each of them would be granted. Their plans should be subject lo the approval of the Government Engineer. They would bo spending the money to much'betler advantage than the ■Government did. The ratepayers would look after that, as {hey had much better control over the local bodies than they had over the general government. . The Arbitration Court. Tho Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act had done a great deal of good. It had prevented sweating and shortened hours, and if strife had been stirred up that was the fault, not of the Court, but of those who came before it. What he objected to was the interference of Parliament with the Court, which, composed as it was of representatives of tho workers and the employers, with a Supreme Court Judge of unquestioned impartiality presiding over it was far hetter qualified to deal with questions of hours and wages. There should be an end of the pin-pricking prosecutions for petty breaches of awards. Employers who really did substantially break an award should bo penalised, but they should not bring a man to Court like a criminal for forgetting to enter a namo in a book, or giving an employee by mutual agreemsit an hour on one day instead of the next. The Opposition did not want to reduce wages. They wanted tho workers to be prosperous. Of course, the old story of the 4s. a day, and the soup kitchens under Sir Harry Atkinson would bo brought up again, but ho wanted to say that tho present Opposition party had nothing to do with Sir Harry Atkinson. Its mem- , bors were not in Parliament in his time, and their policy was quite as liberal as that of tho present Government. The story of tho soup kitchens was not correct, but great credit was due to Sir Harry Atkinson for stepping into the breach at a difficult time, when retrenchment was necessary, and it was particularly noteworthy that tho first salary he cut dowu was his own. (Hear, hear.) A very different mothod was adopted not so very long ago, and tho civil servants who got tho sack were not even provided with soup kitchens. The Railways, Tho time had come when a Commissioner should be obtained from England or America to manage the railways. They wero the most mismanaged affair under the coutrol of the Government, and there was dissatisfaction both among the public and among the railway service. Things in that Department were going from bad to worse, though he was glad to see that tho railways were now paying a little better. The general manager had unfortunately had no experience outside New Zealand. A qualified commissioner from abroad should be appointed, and should have full charge of tho undertaking, but the policy on such matters as to the percentage ot profit to be earned should be in the'hands of tho Minister responsible to Parliament for the control of tho railways. The two States of Australasia that showed the worst results were New Zealand and Tasmania, and in each of those countries the control was in tho hands of Ministers instead of commissioners. Opposition.Policy in Brief, Concluding, Mr. Horries said ho had put before them somo of the principal planks of the Opposition platform. A Government supporter would perhaps come along and tell them what the Government policy was. (A voice: "No.") He (Mr. Hemes) thought at any rato a' Government supporter would not present so clear and definite a platform. The Opposition believed in an intelligent land policy on freehold basis and a rational Native land policy. They were against the present administration of the Civil Service and tho public works on the ground that they were being used as political engines. . They were fighting for the proper management' of the railways. They would encourage individual efforts rather than Socialistic efforts. They were against class legislation, and wanted a fair field and no favour for all sorts.and conditions of men. '':'.'• ■ '■' If his hearers approved of this platform or of the greater pavt of it, ho hoped they would give the party their votes at the next general election. (Applause.) •The speaker, who had tho sympathy and approval of his audience throughout the evening, received a hearty vote of thauks. Mr. A. L. Herdman leaves Wellington to-day by the Napier mail train for Levin, where ho will address a meeting this evening.