NATIONAL PARTY’S POLICY

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 153, 25 March 1938, Page 12

NATIONAL PARTY’S POLICY

Address By Mr. Hamilton

BIG ATTENDANCE AT HASTINGS MEETING

Speakers Given Splendid Reception Dominion Special Service. Hastings, March 24. Hundreds of people were unable to gain admission to the Assembly Hall, Hastings, to-night when political addresses were given by the Hon. Adam Hamilton .Leader of the National Party, and Mr. S. G. Holland, M.P. for Christchurch North. The hall holds about 800 people and a large number who were unable to gain admission were accommodated on the balconies where they heard the speeches through loud speakers. Fully 100 people were sitting in cars or standing in the street, below, where the speakers could be heard. Both Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Holland, as well as the chairman, Mr. G. A. Maddison, the party’s official candidate for the Hawke's Bay seat, were given a splendid reception. There were certainly some interruptions, but these came from a small and apparently compact section of the audience numbering possibly, 50. The remainder of the audience followed the speakers with obvious interest, and bursts of loud applause invariably drowned the hostile demonstrators.

The speakers were introduced by Mr Maddison. who said the size of the audience indicated that politics were very much in the air. As long as men confined themselves to political principles- and avoided personalities they were entitled to that fair hearing which was the inherent right of every Briton. Mr. Hamilton received prolonged applause. Criticism of the Government’s policy in regard to expenditure and restriction of private enterprise was made by Mr. Hamilton. He also devoted M ine time to an explanation of the National Party’s policy, which he said to be centred round a system of progress on a sound basis. J‘A Sacred Trust.” “We stand for democracy as we know it in the British Empire,” said Mr. Hamilton. “During the last 100 years we have built up a standard of living that during the last generation has been enjoyed by no other country in the world. This privilege has been handed down, as a sacred trust. It has been won by constant struggle and has its safekeeping in a sound and progressive Government, but can be destroyed in a very short time. It is our duty to defend that privilege, build it up and see it is not destroyed for those who come after us.” The people wanted a.change in Government at the last election, Mr. Hamilton said, and got it. He believed they wanted another change this time. New Zealand politics had been easy during the last 100 years. Governments had been steering a steady course and there had been no radical differences ' between parties. A sound financial position had been built up which to-day was .still quite stable. The present Government held 70 per cent, of the seats in the House. The National Party was partly to blame for that. The Government had gained its majority on a 64 per cent, vote of the people. He had heard people say they did not agree with party politics, but it was for the people themselves to decide. The difficulty members found was to restrict it to two parties. The idea in mind was to have a clear-cut issue between two interests, Labour and Nationalists. If the National Party could show electors the importance of assisting it and arouse their in.e.est, and was then defeated at the poll. it would feel Labour represented the true interests of the people throughout the country. Growing Expenditure. The Nationalists wanted to help the weak and encourage the strong, and aimed at keeping the balance between the two. At the end of last session the Government passed an Appropriations Act showing the expenditure 'of the Government. In 1936 the amount was £3070,000. This year it was £54,000,000. a rise of £23,000,000 in spending in two years. Mr. Hamilton submitted that members of the Government were not experienced in spending that amount of money. In reply to protests from the body of the ball, Mr. Hamilton said that statement was quite correct. The experience of Government members had been gained in the atmosphere of trade union secretaries. The Federation of Labour was behind the Government and driving it along. Discussing the National Party’s policy, Mr. Hamilton said the party aimed at being truly national and representing all classes of the community. It did not want to be sectional. Britain was the best friend New Zealand had. Previous Governments had always pursued a policy agreeable to Britain. When the Minister of Finance, Hon. W. Nash, went to Europe he ’ came back after 10 months with two results —the freight rate between Britain and New Zealand immediately went up 21 per cent, and Mr. Nash also brought back a trade agreement with Germany, the first clause of which forced New Zealand to buy German goods. "Britain has the next move if we make agreements with other countries,” said Mr. Hamilton. The National Party also stood for private enterprise and freehold tenure of property. The tendency to-day was to magnify the State at the expense of the people. Private enterprise had built the country up to its present standard. . Issue In Two Words. Mr. Hamilton then outlined the National Party's policy and concluded by saying that the issue could be nar- , rowed down to two words, “security and freedom.” The security involved holding what New Zealand had attain- i ed in a hundred years’ development, i and the inviolability of the people’s ■ savings. Freedom involved the inher- i ent rights of the individual, who, he i believed, was a really important fac- 1 tor in society. The workshop of the I State toward which New Zealand was < rapidly heading was undesirable. The ] individual was all-important. ]

At the conclusion of his address Mr Hamilton received prolonged applause.

Mr. Holland, at the commencement of his speech, congratulated Mr. Maddison on his selection as the National candidate for Hawke’s Bay, and wish ed him a pleasant and successful campaign. Mr. Holland’s speech was mainly

critical of the Government’s Socialistic legislation and aims. His replies to interjections were effective. His reply to . one interjector was that there was no greater memorial to private enterprise than New Zealand itself and Hawke’s Bay in particular, and he received prolonged applause. He gave the Government full credit for the promises it had honoured, but criticised it for its unfulfilled promises, particularly the promise to end unemployment. After Mr. Hamilton had answered a number of questions Mr. It. I). Brown moved a motion of thanks to the speakers, also that the meeting express its approval of the principles of the National Party's policy. This was seconded by Mr. Donald Campbell, and was declared by the chairman to be carried “almost unanimously.”