THE ELECTION BATTLE

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 68, 13 December 1919, Page 8

THE ELECTION BATTLE

. _ 4 —: JR. MASSEY AT THAMES } A HEARTY RECEPTION SPEEDY COMPLETION OF RAILWAYS FORESHADOWED By Telegraph.—Special Correspondent. Thames, December 12. The PritM Minister addressed a largo meeting, in -the Thames this evening, the Queon's Theatre, which has seating accommodation for over 600 people, tans , crowded to the doors. The Mayor (Mr. 1). N. Hitter), .presided, and in introujic- "■ in<; the speaker paid a tribute to 'his ; services to the Eiupiri during the: war • arid at the Peace Conference ' Mr.-Massey received a very hearty reception. He was listened to with the '. closest attention, there being an entire absence of interruption. In opening, ho ;- ■spoke .oi the steady /prosperity of th,- ; : Thames. When he first knew the-Thanies its prosperity was dependent upon it 3 gold mines. Its prosperity of to-day was mainly dependent upon the golden neece and the products uf the land, its extensive fishing industry, and he must not • ' forget its famous engineering works. He had been very-glad to hear that aftyi , - "ncon that there was a.prospect of a mining revival. (Applause.) He believed that there were still m;mv r;efs which would contribute to the future prosperity of. the, Thames and of tho Dominion. (Applause.) ; Necessity of Increasing Production. After alluding to tho work of ths Peaca Conference and reminding his audierco ' of, the debt they owed to the 17,000 men who ihad given their lives for th? Em- ". i pire, Mr. Massey dealt with the Dominion's -war debt, and said the country would not be safe financially until its ■production reached forty-jive million pounds annually. He impressed upon . producers that they must keep up. .the quality, of t'he nroduce, because only a ' first-class articfe realised a first-class price in the markets of the world. But to make possible the production neces-s-nry they must improve the possibilities «? transportation, not only in tho Dominion, but on the waterways of the world. In this connection Mr. Massey : spoke- of the wonderful possibilities of '-. ... the .country, particularly in the East Coast, which the railway would-' exploit ' and in passing said that New. Zealand / ■-. would hava_ to make much more use of machinery in railway building arid road making. In Canada and America all the heavy work was done by machinery. The employment of this machinery in . Jv civ- Zealand -would not reduce employment. Tho sanu niimber of men lroufd bo employed and the s?.nie expenditure TTOuld tako place, ' butV--the-• Tin'rir £buld be . finished mors rapidly. v_— —' And there is the. Taupo- cbimfry"" added Mr. Massey. "I once .thought i ~■ s country was not very valuable, but I have changed my views. £ut the .settlers will not be able'to reap the fruits of their labour until thev have . railway communication. That land requires fertilisers, but the fertilisers cannot be placed on the bulk of the land of that-area-until there ore railways."- Tie-' ternng to the need for the sne'edv completion of the railways now iindo'r constTiiciion, he spoke of the large sum of XTi, m Z- lyi " K i(11 °' " ml mentioned t ft. the .£ tlra 1-mine!, which kept miles pt.lme idle, would take a year or two . more to complete. The Party System, sl,a!l ,li,ve *° veTise our policv and ariont a new line of action for the . • ■pfliinrry, declared the Prime Minister. . ■ u doesnt matter wlint party 'is in power. I wish with all' my heart that we could get rid of tills wre'tchfd svstem of nehbcnl parties. (Applause.) l"hnve J'ad .to la,cc my sharo in it.- and possibly 1 havp been as jrnod a narty raan'as anvone but at a time like this, when rewnsfrumoa i* the plT ,t problem, instead _ of sqi.nbhlnm and flying tf ea( ,,, otners.thronts wo slioukl. unite and make * strong nffort tn. meet the country's pea, burden. Of .<<>nr«e a Government ■•'onst have a,majority." Thiitisrvu-fr "-orernment," interjrer- !,,,?' Llnfls; iv Cooke. a candidate to■the J names seat, who ui.-npiod a seat lr, the tront row.

Mr. Masser, w ] lo 1r .,, obviously 'taVen By surpnse, was A t a !o<-.s for a reply for a moment, nn.l tho audience laudVr! ."1 "I 0 *"-" !l e fxplMner!. "that we c-outo m rid of the evils of--the-party systemtne extravagant, the wireuullinu. i; nd Ko on. Oh! yon <Wf know tho.=e> thin"'" he ■■added, and <kWt\ pie'nificantlv. Pr'oceedirii', he spoke of fie many • iinnW ant tlnniß the National Government hwl had to do. "It was r.mimMv- rh<- , B -o.n unponular ftovernmont the country eve" Had." he n<Med. nmirl laughter. Mrs. Cooks: It still is ■ '

Mr. Itassev: I am informed rliffprentlv fibout mv Government. (T.nuxhtpr.) "Of course therp are nropl* who hflp the Government," continued Mr. - • Jfassev. who' was in li ; s 'hannipst vp' , ' n*<l who apppared to hi eiiinying himself in-. menfely. "Fomp, people would like Io jjoison us. Like' my own countrymen, they ire 'il-rm-s against the Government". (Laughter.) A youm; man at the hack here *];- fir.iniislipd hini«elf !>y making, the fir-t interiection about Labour, and !\> '« usual with such interjections, it was quite irrelevant.

Mr. Mfl'sey: "Oil \ like the La'-oiM-Party, because I eau ieo]) 'liem in their place." (Loud applause.) Mr. Massey declared iliat he would not remain in power if ho had to depend on the support of ths Parliamentary Labour Party. "If when the niimbtrs are counted I find myself at the mercy of these people," he added, "the Governor will have my resignation as soon as Parliament moots. (Ajjpliiusa.) I couM not entertain any respect for myself if I adopted any other count." Ho asked his hearers to think out the position carefully, and remember that a bad Government could put the .-ounlry in a ba<l way for many years t« come. Tho Samoan Question. Mr. Massoy spoke of tho mandate over Samoa, and of (lie coloured labour re. quired-for the plantations of the group, explaining that it iva- absolutely imposeiblo for white men to do manual lab- . our. He believed that ultimately an arrangement would I)D made for. coolie labour without indentures. He dealt also with the importance of Samoa as •a naval base, and said that .Vow Zealand would have to contribute a very much larger sum annually for naval defence in the Pacific. Two different countries had recently launched Iwo oi tho largest battleships afloat, Britain having only one of the sise. The ships were nut built for toys, anil their existence emphansed the need for the maintenance of the British no.val supremacy. A motion of thanks and confidence in Mr. Massey and Govmiinent was moved by Mr. A. JFC'ormack. Mrs. Lindsay Cooke mounted tlie pialiorm to move an amendment which exiirwsed thanks but no confidence in Mr. Uassoy's party. The amendment was lost, only a dozen or so voting for it, nnu tho motion was parried almost iinaninpusiy, amid great applause and cheers. ■ ADDRESS AT ROSKILL \ GOVERNMENT'S PACIFIC POLICY By releerapb— Press Asaociation. Auckland, December 12. In the course of, a speech in support ' of the Government candidate for Eoskill,' the Prime Minister said he wanted to refer particularly to .mutters i.n which Auckland people were interested .possibly more than any other section m New Zealand. This was the Governments ' policy in the Pacific,'and explaining the attitude he adopted he said 'that when

the question of the disposal of Samoa , was discussed by the great Powers, and lie was consulted as representing Now Zealand, ho felt ho could not 'take the risk of the Pacific Islands being taken over by any foreign .Power, because the friend of to-dny niight be the enemy of to-morrow. New Zealand did not own Samoa, but it had control over it. He explained the difference between actual ownership and a mandate by saying that ownership and mandate were comparable 'to freehold and lease in perpetuity respectively. New Zealand did not want Samoa because of its fertility—possibly the expenditure would exceed the revenue, as it did when it was in possession of t'he Germans—but New Zealand wanted to have control over the island to prevent any other Power having it. thus constituting a menace in the Pacific. Trade With the Islands. The Prime Minister proceeded to deal with island trade. He said the opening of the Panama Canal had made an enormous difference to the Paciiic Island trad?. becauM the islands had been ! brought nearer to centred on the other ■side of the world. The people of New Zealand had little idea of the fertility of 1 the Fijian group. The islands of. this group produced enormous quantities of tropica! products—sufiflr, rubber, copra, and fruit. There were great opportunities for trade and New Zealand should take full advantage of them. Mr. Masfey said he had caused, inquiry lo be made as to the possibilities of trade between Npw Zealand and Fiji. Something, nlso. had to be done in connection with fhe New Hebrides, which at present were ■~!VFr"MI faintly by the Brlti-h and French. The system of government was not a very; satisfactory one, and prob ably would! be altered. The hop? was expressed that New Zealand would be able to keep the trade of the Tongan group. At present there was not n: market for copra in New Zealand, but it was understood arrangements were being made to establish a trade in copra in Auckland, where it was proposed lo erect works. Imperial Preference. Mr.. Masspy reviewed the question of Imperial.preference. Many question? of immigration, Shipping, and finance were involved'in this policy. For years there had been a (stream of immigrants from the United Kin«ilnm to foreign countries. 'These enterprising and energetic men and. women were the piclc of'the people in the Old Land, and they had been "allowed to go to countries outside the Eninire. They should have been kept under the da?. If this policy had been adopted before, the Empire, would have I'wi in a. better position to meet all the Empire's war obligation*. A new arrange- I went had been made by the Imperial Government, which proposed to pay the passage of soldiers and their dependants, and all' that was pxnwted front the Dominion was that immigrants should receive fair treatment in tho land of their fldo'ption. "I think we can promise that," said Mr. Massey. (Applause.)

IMPRESSIVE.' DEMONSTRATION ,■ OF REFORM PARTY'S . • STRENGTH GREAT RECEPTION FOR MB. MASSEY By Telegraph.-Special Correspondent. Auckland, December 12. The Reform rally held in the Town Hall last night was a most impressive demonstration of the strength, and enthusiasm of the Reform Party in Auckland, and was also a remarka'We proof of the personal poimlarity of the Prime "Minister. The hall vns filled to its utmost capacity, about iWV). people b?ing; present, while hundreds pf others were unable lo gain admittance. The proceedings were of an intensely enthusiastic nature, and an excellent ipmition was frivpn to ilis E. JfWville r.nd Sir. Clutha Mackenzie, the Reform candidates for Grey Lvun and Auckland. Eo.st respectively, who addressed the me»ting before the ar-ri'-al of the Prime Minister.-

The appearance of Mr. Mas?™ - on his veluvn from a meeting at Boskill. where he h'nd delivered an address, wa.s the si;!; l'iil for a treniem'.oirc ouH-ursf: oi cheerin? and .inpl.iii.eo. \Vhn n the Prime minister stood on the platform the cheering , In-nke out again with renewed vigour. TThen niriet was at last restored n, verse of the National Anthem wn-= suns. vMr. Mawey then delivered his address, and his rcnißrks, particularly those dealing with thn necessity for a strong policy of development and increase of production, were greeted with fremicnt and hearty applause. At (.lie conclusion of ?.lr. Jlne-sc-y's speech another remarkable demonstration occurred, resouiuiinu cheers being given for the Leader of l|io Kc-lcrui Party.

in the course of his sp'etch Mr. Jlassey said there were at least three parties soliciting the support of tho electors. He dill not thiuk that Ihe Parliamentary Labour l'arty possessed the confidence of more thuu a small minority of the people of the country, and he was not afraid it would .secure a majority.

X voice: Wait until the numbers t' 0 up.

Mr. Massey: Yes, when the -numbers j»o up tho Labour Parly will go down. (Laughter.)

Sir. Jlassey: said he tjuito believed the Government would obtain .■; majority. (Applause.) But supposing it did supposing that neither of thy two large parties obtained it majority—well, then the band would bc-cin to play. (Laughtor.) Judging by what the Leader of the Labour Party, Mr. Holland, had said, that party would join with the present Lender of the Opposition in turning out the present Government. Then the Labour Party would presumably sny to Sir Joseph Ward: "You. must do a»" we tell you, or we will turn you out also.""

Prior to delivering his address at the Town Hall, Mr. Jl.vsey. spoke at Boskill in support of the candidature of Mr. Potter. The hall was crowded, and Mr. Miis.-:ey was given a particularly enthusiastic reception, the cheering commencing as he entered the hall and lusting 'i'or several minute-. There was further cheering when (he Prime Minister commence.'! his address, and also at the close of the meeting. A very large crowd gathered outside the theatre and enthusiastic scenes were witnessed. When Mr. Massey Wt the buildinir ho was compelled Io shake hands with a large number of admirers, and tho cheers were renewed as the CM , drove away.