ELECTION SPEECHES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1242, 26 September 1911, Page 7

ELECTION SPEECHES.

MR. LUKE AT JOHNSONVIUE

"GOVERNMENT PLUMS."

Mr. J. P. Luke, M.P., a candidate for the Suburbs seat at the next election, addTKJscil a meeting at ■ Johnsonville last night. Mr. W. L.' Thompson (the chairman of tho Johnsonville Town Board) presided. Mr. Thompson, in introducing the candidate, said that he had thought when at tho last election they returned the Government candidate they would get somo of tho Government pluins, but so far ho could not seo.that they had had any of <tlio pluius. Mr. Luko said that as Mr. Thompson liad said, they expected that when they returned 'him a good deal would l>o done. A.? far as devoting time and energy went ho had not spared himself, ..and he had gono for tho Minister timo arid again. They had to remember that the Msvnawatu railway had only recently been taken over and a good deal of expense had lieen entailed. However, he had got them a better service. ■Hβ had also done what ho could for them in the matter of a better railway station. He thought tno improvements in light, etc., which were in progress were evidences of the proK^ s ; .sivenoss of Johnsonville. He said that in the last few years there had been a great growth of trade in the Dominion. On the financial side thero had been many increases in revenue. Mr. Luke devoted some time to quoting figures calculated to indicate the Dominions position. lie stated that there had been an excess of receipts over'expenditure, of JMa-.Mb;. a credit balance of .£132,!i1G, and that there. v?a 3 surplus f ,£1,386,163 These figures, he claimed, showed that tno country ■wife in a very sound financial position. Many might not he prepared to accept these figures/but when the Budcot was under discussion in the Jiouso inroads had not been made into it A large amount of the money which had Wα borrowed,. by the, Government was ttevenue-producing.. • ' : Tho Land Question. Speaking-on land matters, Mr. Lnko eaid that the system of disposing and '.acquiring land in tho .South Island m ,the early times had a bearing on tno pro■jjress'of the-community. He. wished to ■pay a tribute to the late Mr. Bolleston las a land reformer. Under Mr. Rollesfton's system, over a million acres ot 'dand were taken up. 'From the time ivhea Mr. Ballancc became Minister for lands, in ISBS, the tendency ot. ,the pe-o-,ple to- insist on some land being' reserved for the. , people of the country and the people pi the future began to grow. Ihe present system'of opening -up Crown lands was then explained,, nnd mention was made of the Lands Settlement Finance Act. The latter was an Act which was going to do more • than any tother measure for the settling of tho country, . apart from the Lands Settlement Ait—an Act for.the breaking up of big !estat»s. Seven million acres of land '(eventually to reach 9,000,000 acres) had been set aside for old aga pcasioiis and for .education. ' The • proceeds would go to Iteach tho young, and to comfort the, old. 'Ho concluded his r&feronco to land matters by saying tho land question was a Iburning question in our politics. The Railways and Other Matters. Respecting the railways, there had been ion increase in th.6 revenue. . The Minister proposed to lower tho rates of lid. Mr mile first-class and'ld. second-class Kfor over 200 miles) to l?,d. and Jd. res,j>Bctively. Then the Minister proposed to increase the wages for permanent and casual hands; _ the •total increases to the people associated with tho railways was to be ,£95,000. He •had made, representations to have ter railway service between Porirua," and Wellington-in the early mornings, .but had not succeeded so far. The, candidate stated that ho had supported the hydroelectric scheme when the proposal was before PanUament. There, was to be an improvement in the- old age pensions system, at an extra cost to the country of .£55,000. Defence was exercjsin". the cf the people a gcbd deal. " The 'British - Navy had to bo kept paramount, and this country, had. .decid-ed to support the British Navy inst-ead of/building a navy, of its own'life Australia and-Canada. lie thought ths Government' were right in that As to.compulsory training, he had supported it when tho age was mad« 21 years, 'but had voted against 25 yeate. It .\vos our responsibility to put ourselves in a state, of efficient defence, and he did not hold with those who objected to the scheme. He still opposed the extension from 21 ytsvrs. to 25 years, as it would in-, terfere with the earning power of the persons affected, and it would take tho voung married men away from-their homes; ■ . . . His Platform.' As to his platform, he was a supporter of tho free, compulsory, and secular edueation eystem, and. would brook no -inroads upon' it. The time had arrived for % strict examination of our secondary education systems to mo if there was any overlapping. Ee favoured dental and medical examination of the young people. He thought the State should institute inquiries to knew what the trend iof the young people was after leaving school; also what was the cause of youths going into commercial employment inetead of on the land w to trades. He was in favour of opening up' Grown .lands on the leasing system, nnd acquiring Native lands and leasing than' to Europeans. Ho would push a vigorous roads and "bridges policy for the back-blocks. He favoured cheaper- suburban . telephone Tates. He did not think tho Conciliation, and Arbitration' Act should be done away with, but a grouping of awards would be 'beneficial. On tho liquor question ho. was prepared to vote for a bare majority poll on a Dominion issue and on local option he would ■ favour ■ a 15-55 per cent, poll against the three-fifths poll. On the motion of Mr. Hall, seconded by Jlir. H. Qreor, a vote of thanks and confidence was passed. :

WELLINGTON EAST.

ME. BOLTON OPENS HIS CAMPAIGN. Mr. F. G. Bolton addressed the electors oi Wellington Edst in the Kent Terrace Hall last night. The meeting was very guiet and orderly, and the candidate was not asked any questions of any sort until ho had concluded his address in chief; after that ho was asked quite a number. Sir. E. C. Lcvvty presided. Mr. Bolton rccitevl shortly his qualifications as a candidate. He had been born In New Xealaad, and he was proud of it; ho had been connected with only those business concerns which had been prosperous, and ho was proud of that too. Other things being equal, he thought thoy should prefer the, native-born to the outsider. Outlining his policy, ho said that he was a supporter of tho present Government on a no-confidence motion, because ho preferred a Government which was doing something positive to a mere negative Opposition. 'Two topics which ho proposed to discuss 'were the excessive cost of living and languishing industries. Before the present Government took oifieo there r/as an era of unrestricted competition, with tho result that there was waste to producer and consumer alike. Th*is state Df things had led in America to the nnialjjamation of clusters of employees to form big corporations, and then.there had been tho flotation of those big companies, tho stock of which had been liberally watered. In Now Zealand things wero different, but yet the industries of tho country could not. pay arbitrary increases in wages unless the increases could J>o passed on to the consumer. If the increases could not be s-.i passed on there would be restricted purchases, and consequently unemployment. The iron industry was one which could very well bo protected from foreign dumping, which was causing the industry to languish at present. He, preferred that the iron fields of this country should bo developed by tho State, rather than that they should lie put into the hands of syndicates. If the development of the.fields was to lie loft to syndicates it ought to bo so left under very strictly-defined conditions. Personally he thought that Now Zealand ought to aim at tho establishment of a stool industry, rather than the production of pig iron merely; ■ Tho Cos! of Living. He discussed at somo length tho effect of increased wages on the. prion t>f_ land and on tho primary industries of tho country. He was of opinion that any flight disability imposed upon the farmer would be borno in tho end by tho landowner, who had beon exploiting .tin , far lner. Arbitrary increases in wages raised

tho cost of living only occavaonnlly, andin a very small degree. Tho middleman olten said that tho increased wages were wholly tho cause cf the increased ■'.■ast of the article. This was true only to some exteut, but thero was no class of labour that was worse paid than that employed by the primary, producers of this'country, lie referred to the diversify »f prices ruling for our primary pioU-iusts; suck as meat, butter, canned iriiit, and such like, in England ami in New Zealand. He would propose as remedies the removal of import duties, the passing of special trust legislation, the imposition of export duties, or, if all oth<rr reimxlies failed, the. nationalising of the particular industries which were exploiting the people. He was not one of those who behoved that tho industrial millennium was coming tomorrow morning, nor was he one of those who criticised without trying to suggest a remedy. Ho was the man who believed he could help in doing something as a representative for the city in which lie was born—tho man who had jio axe to grind, tho man who had nothi'jg to gain except the estcem and good will of his fellow citizens. Tho .£3OO a year was no , inducement, for he would probably lose a great deal more than that by leaving his practice for Parliamentary duties. Questions. "Aro you the selected candidate of tho Government party?" a member of the audience asked. Mr. Bolton replied that he did not know of any other Government candidate who was standing. A voice: What about M'Laren? Ifr. Bolton: I always understood thaC Mr. M'L'aren was a labour candidate. At any rate, all his speeches.are about labour. Mr. Bolton was nsked whether he thought he could do away with monopolies by legislation. Mr. Bolton: Yes, I do. A voice: What about tho beer monopoly? Another voice: Drink it. Mr. Bolton did not think ho had any share in determining this question, which was ono that had been left to the people to decide. Is the speaker in favour of compulsory military training? , Mr. Bolton: I am, and I may say that I advocated it three years ago before it was. so' popular as it is to-day. > Another questioner wanted to know why tho candidate supported compulsory military training. Mr. Boltc-n: I think that if a country is worth living in it is worth fighting for. As for those iniseuided individuals who parsuada their children to defy the law, I think that the-,-' should h: made to seirve in place of their children. Another question: Are you in favour of statutory preference to unionists? Mr. Bolton was not in favour of statutory prefeienc3. He. thought rather that it was the duty of unionists to educ-ato other woTkors to join their unions, and so dp away with tho necessity for preference. Mr. Bolton was asked , whether he was in favour of a. plebiscite being taken on the question of compulsory military training. Mt. Bolton said he was not opposed to any such thing. But he added that if a plebiscite were in. prospect he would stump the. country and , speak on evciv po-siblo platform in favour of compulsory training.

It was now time for a resolution, and the chairman asked someone to move one. A vote of thanks and confidence was proposed by a male , elector, and seconded by a lady. . One of the questioners moved an amendment that a vote, of thanks, and something efe that was inaudible, bo tendered to the- speaker.. The amendment was put before the noiso had subsided, and thero were no votes for or against; the motion was carried with a chorus of "ayes," and the chairman would not reopen the question when the mover of tho amendment objected that his motion, had not been put. '