CAMPAIGN NOTES

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume XLVI, Issue 3270, 9 November 1928, Page 4

CAMPAIGN NOTES

FROM THE HUSTINGS.

MANY MATTERS DISCUSSED.

A Longed-for Divorce,

Replying to a questioner at his Doyleston meeting, Mr D. Jones said he could not see any hope of the licensing ! issue being divorced from polities until State Control, which was a dead iss«£, was deleted from the ballot paper and the bare majority vote was given. It was a most unfortunate thing that the licensing issue should dominate politics to such an extent as it had in the past. Many people on both sides voted for a candidate according to his views on the licensing issue, setting aside other considerations altogether. It was a most unfortunate thing, but he was afraid it would continue to be so while the law remained as at present. * * «

No Means of Access. Mr H. Hood, one of the Doyleston soldier settlers, told Mr D. Jones that owing to there being no bridge over a creek in front of his property he had no means of getting a traction engine in except through a neighbour's property, and it was not always convenient for his neighbour to grant him access. He had approached tho County Council, but without result. Mr Jones said that the usual thing was for the seller of a property to provide proper access.' If the facts were as stated by Mr Hood he was entitled to a bridge. '' I shall be pleased to go into the matter with you," said Mr Jones. "You should have spoken to me about it be-, fore.'' * * * School Dental Clinics. Mr Walter O'Neill asked Mr Jones at his Doyleston meeting whether it was intended that the services of school dental nurses should be made available to the pupils attending private schools. Mr Jones said he thought it was the intention to give treatment to the children attending • private schools. Personally he thought the children in all schools should receive attention. It was a matter of the utmost importance that all children should grow up to be healthy citizens. Mr O'Neill's question was prompted by Mr Jones's earlier statement that he had succeeded in inducing the Government to establish a school dental cliniic at Southbridge to serve the whole of the district. * *• * Those Cream Grades. Mr J. R. Godsell asked Mr D. Jones at his Doyleston meeting whether he thought it was a fair thing that there should be a -Id. a lb. difference in the two grades of cream when both were, he had been informed, mixed together when they reached the dairy factory. Mr Jones replied that it was not a Government regulation, but a Dairy Control Board one. If it was a fact that the two grades were mixed together the matter required looking into. If the dairy farmers were against the regulation they could get it altered. •s * * * Land Revaluations. Referring to the subject of land valuation reductions to returned soldiers at Mr D. Jones's Doyleston meeting, Mr H. Hood said that although the properties in the Doyleston settlement had been reduced the settlers were still unable to do much good. Did Mr Jones not think the values could be reduced still further? Mr Jones replied that in the great majority of cases the settlers had done very mueh better since the revaluations. This was borne out by the figures supplied by the Department. Another season like last one would result in a further marked improvement. Possibly there were some special circumstances to be considered in regard to the Doyleston settlement. He would be pleased to go into the position with the settlers and do what he could to help them. Mr J. R. Godsell said he could bear out all that Mr Hood had said. His own holding had been written down by £4 ; an acre but still he was unable to make ] much headway: it was just a bare ex- j istence. The settlers had to spend a ] substantial sum of their own money \ upon improvements and the position at j present was that they could not get out. ] He did not consider the men on thc j Doyleston settlement had had a fair go. I Mr Jones expressed regret that neither i Mr Hood nor Mr Godsell had mentioned the matter to him before. As a practical farmer he would have been I pleased to have gone fully into the c position with them, and would take an c early opportunity of going over the 2 land with them. s

- - - -*■ ;- A Mere £20,000,000. The accidental dropping of a figure 2 in the repoft of Mr D. Jones's meeting at Sedgemere made a difference of Af a mere twenty million pounds. MrJones said that in a period of five years and four months the State Advances Department had advanced £26,500,000 to farmers and workers. The absence of the first figure brought the amount down to only £6,500,000. * '* * Which Sir Joseph? "Which Sir Joseph Ward are we to believe, the Sir Joseph who criticised the present Government's borrowing in unmeasured terms a year ago, predicting dire results from the continuance of sueh a policy, or the Sir Joseph who now wants to borrow £70,000,000 for two purposes only?" asked Mr D. Jones at his Sedgemere meeting. What were people to think of a man- who roundly condemned the borrowing of money for the development of hydroelectric schemes and for the extension of great State enterprises and soon after advocated borrowing three times as much for only two purposes? * * * ' Amicable Settlements. "Are you in favour of the Arbitration Court and its present methods of making awards?" asked Mr F. Alexander at Mr D, Jones's Sedgemere meeting. Mr Jones said.he thought the^ Trades Disputes Investigation Aet placed upon the Statute Book by Mr Masi sey in 1913 was a very good measure. Under this Act, before a strike could l • be called the parties were brought to- • gether in Conference, under a chairman appointed by the Minister of Labour, and everything possible was l done to arrive at a settlement satis* ■ factory to both sides. It was betterto arrange matters in that way than to go straight to the Arbitration Court. Only the other day the shearers and wool men had arrived at an amicable agreement. Many flaxmills in the North Island had closed down [ because they could not get a payable | return for their products owing to the high production costs. , This had thrown a large number of men out of employ- ' ment. Subsequently both sides had met | together and agreed upon an arrangc- | ment that enabled the mills to start | working again. He believed that it was better to .enter, into an amicable arrangement wherever possible than ta bring the cast iron regulations of the-cfe ' Arbitration, Court into operation. * * * Farm Workers'. Homes. ; . Answering^ Mr I. McGill, who asked whether there was any provision whereby assistance could be secured from the Government to build cottages on \ farms for employees, Mr D. Jones said that very few such applications had been received from farmers, the over--1 whelming majority of the applications 1 dealt with under thc housing scheme being from towns and villages. He was quite sure, however, that the Government would give sympathetic consideration to any requests made by farmers. The country districts were just as much entitled to assistance as the towns. * « « The Butter Pool "How is it that the butter pool did . not turn out as successful as the meat^ pool? inquired Mr I. McGill*of Mr D. Jones at his Sedgemere meeting. ■■ Mr Jones replied that, as ehairman of the Meat Board, he was veryoreluctant to offer any criticism with regard to the Dairy Produce Control Board. He was inclined to * think, however, that the failure was mainly due to management. The Dairy Produce Board had attempted, to do in one year a job that should have taken more like five years. The first thing such a body had to do was to win public confidence. The Dairy Produce Board had not taken sufficient time to do that before embarking upon its main objective. The Meat Board had moved along very carefully, blocking up one hole after another, and to-day it had the complete confidence of practically all the sheepfarmers in the Dominion. It had pursued an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary method. He thought the" trouble with the Dairy Board was that it had agreed that a certain policy was the right one and had set about putting it into operation right away. In seven years the Meat Board had not been obliged to retrace a single step. The farmers present would all remember what happenecT in regard to : the dispute about leaving the kidneys | in mutton carcases for export. The '""-. Meat Board had first investigated the matter very thoroughly and the step it had taken had meant a great deal of money to the producers.