SECOND BALLOT. MR. ATKINSON "GETS HIS SECOND WIND."

Evening Post, Volume LXXVI, Issue 122, 21 November 1908, Page 9

SECOND BALLOT. MR. ATKINSON "GETS HIS SECOND WIND."

AT "CLOSE GRIPS" WITH SOME PEOBLEMS. For about three-quarters of an hour lajt night aa amused audience ~at the Bethel watched a small band of the Independent Labour party and the Socialist partj bombarding Mr. A. It. Atkinson. In no instance did tho shots strike the candidate. Ho made no attempt to eledgo them. They simply fell wida of the mark. Mr. Atkinson was in a cheerful mood, and after giving his questioners Hny amount of "rope," they parted the best of friends. There were about 30 persons present. Ur. A. H. Mann occupied the chair. _ Mr. Atkinson said it was not attractive f« either the candidate or theelectors, after the- big fight was over, t« taka- part in a new engagement. The »_• popular topic in the engagement was th» denunciation of the Second Ballot Act, vrhich caused all the additional trouble. \ THE QUESTION AT ISSUE. With regard to his quarrel with the Government, it remained exactly whero it did when ha started his original campaign. He had set forth his views in a number of speeches, and had printed them in a manifesto which it was impossible to mistake. Ho had not thought it necessary to pursue the details of that quarrel through the second campaign for the simple reason that his. quarrel with the Government was hardly I any longer in issue. The question now was : The choice of the electors between the two Independent candidates. In : order that ho might not, be misunderstood, he would say that he never had any quarrel with the general legislation of the present Government, or of the preceding Government. Speaking generally, that legislation had met with his approval. His complaint against the Government, as against its predecessor, related almost entirely to matters of ad--linistration, to administrative abuses, to extravagance, and to the perpetual e_ereaehments of the Executive upon thefunctions of other authorities; in fact, to the general growth, to a large extent an unconscious growth, of tyranny on the part of tho Government, which in his •pinion was inconsistent with the true spirit of democracy. One of his ambitiant, was to check abuses, especially the growth of excessive power at the expense of tho Legislature ; but also at the expense of local bodies— bodies for whose independent jurisdiction he had a particular jealousy. He wished it to be understood that, opposed as he waa to the maladministration and extravagance •f the Government, he had no personal quarrel with them, or any member of Wvem, any mere than h© had with Mr. Massey or the' Opposition. THE EVILS OF AUTOCRACY. Ther» were men in the Ministry for nhom he had considerable personal admiration. Where ho differed from Mr. llasaey and the Opposition generally was mainly on the question of the landr, but also on their general attitude to social reform. It was a great advantage to tho country that the overwhelming majority which tho Government had hitherto enjoyed had beea very considerably reduced. The best Government in the world was not competent to administer the affairs of a country satisfactorily if it had too larg» a majority. No human being, and no set of human beings, was fit to be entrusted with absolute power. It was not- in human nature to resist the temptation of such an autocracy , as had existed ; and Ihu evils ho had vo ferred to had been a natural result, and ther* waa no special imputation on the characters of the men. It Vas inevitable, as human beings, that the members of tho Government/ should have succumbed by haying too much autocratic power. I'here had been a very decisive verdic£ in that constituency against the Government. The question was now narrowed down to this : Which 'of the two Independent candidates — both opposed to the Government — could best help in the work of Parliament, ceuld best further the interests of thatr constituency, and of tke country, and could best criticise such acts of maladministration and extravagance as the Government might be guilty of? He had never thought very much of the time-honoured maxim that it was the function of the Opposition to oppose. It was the function of th» Legislature to legislate. There waa also this question : Which candidate had the broader programme, broader views, and which candidate had the greater capacity to represent all classes of tho community, and to further the general interests of the whole community if he were returned to the House? NOT A CLASS REPRESENTATIVE. He represented no class; he was bound to no class. (Applause.) He considered that the work of Parliament, being a national work, was far too complicated, far too comprehensive, far too important, to be properly gauged by any class test ; and for that reason — being pledged' to no creed, class, or party, he claimed to be an absolutely free candidate, and the only free candidate before the electors. LABOUR QUESTIONS. After alluding to Mr. Millar's ability and grasp of Labour qucstiono, and to the cruel attacks that had been made upon him since he had been in tho Ministry, Mr. Atkinson dealt with an extraordinary .provision in the Shearers' Accommodation Bill — that in every sleep-ing-room a fireplace shauld be provided by tha proprietor. A voice : And a feather-bed ? Mr. Atkinson ventured to say that the majority o£ persons present had been accustomed to sleep in a room without a fireplace. He was prepared to consider every measure fairly as it came along. It seemed to him that labour might very well, , instead of looking to Parliament for every advance, have struck out more on its own, and if it had done so it might have attained more dignity and power than it evon now enjoyed. A voice : You mean by the method of strikes ? Mr. Atkinson said no; he did not want 'strikes. They could have strikes without arbitration, and with arbitration, too, of which they had had examples during recent months. It was impossible to think of repealing the Arbitration Act, because they would be launched in a mass of strikes. There was no occasion to be alarmed ; even if the compulsory clauses of the Act "were to be relaxed, he did not think there was any occasion to fee.! that they would be in for an epidemic of strikes. He thought that by conciliation and mutual respect they might inaugurate a sys tern which would be better for all. That was his general view at present with respect to arbitration, though it was difficult to see accurately what the view of labour was with respect to the Arbitration Act. In place of the old Conciliation Boards, it was much better to bring the parties face to face before the Industrial Councils with respect to the matters in dispute. TOO NARROW AN ISSUE. His opponent in the present contest said the question was one of labour or anti-labour. That was far too narrow an issue. The question was a much broader one than that. He stood on a i broader platform, aud he had a broader

outlook and a freer hand than his competitor with respect to any question that might arise in Parliament. HIS WORK IN PARLIAMENT. Mr. Atkinson stated what he had achieved in the way of improved legislation during the time he was in Parliament. He wished to make it clear that his object was to level up, and not to pull to pieces or to pull down. He had been successful in getting important and beneficial amendments made in the Bubonic Plague Bill, the Money-lending Bill/ the Public Contracts Bill, the Stamp Bill, and other measures. His technical legal knowledge had been useful in detecting flaws in measures, anri getting defects remedied. An important and far-reaching amendment in the Public Contracts Bill had been made by him before he was a month in the House. INDEPENDENT MEMBERS. It was curious to see how the enormous power which the Government had wielded, and the length of time it had been in office, had sapped very considerably the independence of general politics. One independent member after another during tho present campaign had stated that he was not going t&vote against the Government on s, motion of want of confidence. Mr. Atkinson then read an extract from a letter he had received from Mr. T. E. Taylor, stating that he had been misrepresented in respect to his attitude to the Government. What he had stated was that if a vote of want of confidence was moved immediately on the meeting of Parliament he would not vote for it ; but after that he reserved to himself absolute freedom. He (Mr. Atkinson) would be very proud to be working and fighting alongside Mr. Taylor. / A voice : And so you will. Mr. Atkinson then emphasised the ■great importance of detaching the pubhe service and public works expenditure from political control. He thought that local works should be locally financed and locally controlled; and a proper system of local government should be established It was no exaggeration to say that the Public Works Fund had become a source of corruption for purposes of political support. His quarrel, as he had said, was with the present system and administration. He advocated reform of the Legislative Council. A better defence system should be established. He regretted I that bookmakers had been lisensed. He would, if elected, do his best for the constituency and for the country, and would endeavour not to forfeit their confidence. In reply to a question, Mr. Atkinson said it would depend on the question at dretltion;^ V ° te ° n " n °- Confi - A hearty vote of thanks and confi. dence was accorded to Mr. Atkinson.