WELLINGTON NIPS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 70, 16 December 1919, Page 11

WELLINGTON NIPS

MR. WRIGHT AT NGAHAUEANGA. Mr. 8..A.-Wright addressed the electors at the Garrison Hall, Ngahanranga, last evening. He received an attentive hearing. Before proceeding with his nddress, Mr. Wright said thnt when addressing' the electors at Berhnmpore he made reference to some questions received from the Home Service League, urging nn immediate reply, but giving no indication as to where the replj- should be sent. It now appeared that the secretary had arranged that all letters and telegrams addressed to h-'m shou 1 ' 1 be .lodged at (ho G.P.O. It was only fair to make this correction. Mr. Wright repeated that in tho House be had supported the claims of the Home Service men to a gratuity. Many of these men had enlisted and were detained by the authorities because their services wero needed in New Zealand. Dealim? with the coal question, the speaker said the State coal depots '.vere retailing the article nt a loss of. roughly, 12s. 6d. per ton, but were making a handsome profit from the sale of coal to the Gas Company, which was hewn from tbe Liverpool Mine. This coal was essentially n gas coal, and the. Department charged ,10s. a ton for what in rre-war times was only worth 10s. per ton. These facts explained why State coal was cheaper than the coal sold by dealers. The question of Capital and Labour was also discussed hy Mr. Wright, who urged that both were necossnrv. • One was useless without the other, and the duty of public men was not to foment discord in the industrial -world, but to promote good feeling between employers end -mployed. Replying to a question, Mr. Wright ?aid he thought there should be n school nt Ngahnuranga. It was certainly unfair ■that parents should be compelled to nay train fare for their children wh<m they travelled to the Normal School in Wellington. A vote of thanks to the speaker concluded the meeting.

AIR. CROSKERY AT MTBAMAB. Mr. A. W. Croskery, official Labour candidate for Wellington Suburbs, addressed meetings at Mirnmar Town Hall and tho Maranui Church Hall last evening. Tho candidate dealt with most of the problems of reconstruction, pointing out the failuro of the Government under .fcs new housing scheme to build houses for the homeless at anything like a price which would enable the workers to carry out their obligations. It was absurd, he said, for the Government to build houses which wero quite beyond the pocket of the average working man and then sav that they were solving the housing problem in a satisfactory manner. No person should be called upon to pay more in rent than what thev could earn by one day's work, and until such was accomplished the housing 'problem was as. far, from being solved as ever. Dealing with the question of widows' "pensions Mr. Croskery pomted out that we had arrived nt a most absurd position in this matter; on the Statuto Book there were no fewer than three widows' pensions. In one case the widow received per week, in the other she received 255. per week, and in the other she was paid the handsome 611111 of 7s. 6d". per week, and was expected to keep herself and her children in decency and comfort. This last pension was'the one passed by the Reform Government. Mr. Croskery pointed out the great advantages which would accrue to the people if they owned their own shipping services. The farmers would be placed beyond the reach of the shinnin" trusts, and the public would benefit in havinc their imported articles brought to this country at tho lowest actual cost. With our own colliers and boats trailing to the Islands, coal and fruit should be able to be placed before the consumers at prices within the rnngo of everyone's pocket. It was important for the electors to note that during the past ten years the Customs taxation had meres*cd bv nearly 12 per cent. As n mat er of fact wo were paying in Custom* taxation the sum of nearly while the wealthy landowners in this country only contributed the modest sum of J81.385,708. The Liberals and Reformers were equally responsible for tins state of affairs, as they had both had a hand in the Government of the country during this period. The opponents of Labour hnd endeavoured to make Queensland as black as possible, but notwithstanding this it was an absolute fact that all the nationalised concerns in that State had made profits with the execution of one, and in the case of meat it was being sold nt nearly one-half '"« than it was in Wellington. Tbe candidate received a hearty vote of thanks and confidence.