MINISTER FOR MARINE IN FIGHTING FORM

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 122, 19 November 1914, Page 3

MINISTER FOR MARINE IN FIGHTING FORM

MR. FISHER AT THE TOWN HALL j HUGE AUDIENCE AND SOME i OPPOSITION. THE BIG ISSUE BEFORE THE ELECTORS. The Minister of Marine/ the Hon. F. M. B. Fisher, who is again contesting theWellington Central seat, had for his first election address last night an audience that filled the iarge Town Hall to the utmost limits. By half-past seven it was a case of "standing room only," and a very large number of people were unable to pass the numerous police later and gain admission. Many in the audience apparently expected a rowdy meeting, but in this they were disappointed. There was a strong body of opposition which made itself felt at the start with interruption and interjection, but the meeting never got out of hand, and the candidate was able to deaL with interrupters quite effectively. The candidate had an excellent reception, and there was nothing in the opposition of the bitterness which characterised ,the meetings addressed by the Minister between the end of the strike and the opening of Parliament. The chair was taken by Mr. D. i. Skinner, and the appearance of the candidate was greeted with loud applause. The Chairman, in introducing Mr. Fisher, said he hoped electors would pay an attentive hearing to candidates, so that they might .elect the best men to bring the countiy through the present crisis. (Hear, hear.) The Minister expressed his regret that the hall was not larger, as there appeared to be as many people outside as inside. (Applause.) There was no possibility of postponing the elections under the circumstances, and he contended that the Government had taken the proper course. (Applause, and a voice : Wnat rot !) The party, said Mr. Fisher, was in a winning mood, and there was a desire on the part of the people to keep the present Government in office. (Applause and demur.) THROUGH THICK AND THIN. Mr. Fisher then proceeded to give an account of the stewardship of the Government First of all he dealt with the strikes. So far as the Federation of j Labour was concerned he was out to I hit it every time, and he was not going to contribute anything towards that body, whose headquarters were at Berlin, but now at the front fighting for the enemy. There was a good deal of interruption at this stage, but it was not very audible at the platform. Mr. Fisher said that from the time the Government came into office a succession of great events had interposed themselves and the people did not realise what had been going on in Parliament. Voice : They never do. The majority of the Red Feds, continued the candidate, were holding a meeting in St. Peter's Schoolroom in order to find out what became of the funds collected for Che workers during the strike. (Laughter and applause.) Voice : It's the bogus union's funds. Mr. Fisher went further into the ques« tion of the strike. Whenever the strikers kicked up a row they would get more farmers. That jwas why the Government went in for close settlement — especially of the fellow who wouldn't work. (Laughter.) The Federation, having taken over the strike, proceeded to call out the seamen. ! Voice : You're wrong, sir ; they never called us out. We came out ourselves. (Loud and prolonged applause.) ! Another voice : " That's one for you," and another interjector : " What about victimisation ?" Mr. Fisher : I'll victimise you before long. We're not going to have any of your German methods here. You'd better go to headquarters. In a moment of calm amid a murmur of disapproval the Minister of Marine declared the people of New Zealand were going to return the Massey Government because it broke The last word was drowned in tremendous applause and hooting. Voices : " That remains to be seen," and "' What about the seamen's vote?" Mr. Fisher: I will deal with that later. Don't think I am going to dodge that. Voice: We'll look to that. WAR AND LOCAL NAVY. The Minister then turned to the war and claimed credit for the Government for offering help to the Empire so quickly. Since the war broke out the naval delopments in the Pacific had proved that the theory of naval development propounded by the Massey Govern ment was right and the other theory was wiong. (Applause and voices: "Rot.") It was nothing short of a crime, said the Minister, to send seamen to sea in vessels of the type of the Psyche, Philomel, and Pyramus. , (Hear, hear, and applause.) They had not, he declared, given the British seamen in the Pacific a fighting chance. They could not run away and they could not chase an enemy. What the Massey Government nov asked for was for something worthy. It was the Labour Partj in Australia that provided the Australian Navy, whereas the Labour. Party here did not care for defence at all. (Uproar.) The Minister, as an instance of the Ked Fed.'s attitude at the beginning of the war, quoted the case where the miners' on the West Coast refused to work to supply coal for the navy. Proceeding, he asked Ihem if they wanted an Im- ' perial Navy in the Pacific? He believed that the ultimate outcome of their policy i out here would be that Canada, Australia, and New Zealand would have their own navy in the Pacific, which would be subordinate to Imperial con-i trol. On the outbreak of war, with such a navy they would at once hand it over to the control of the Imperial authorities, and say. "When you have done with it, hand it back." (Applause.) Then there was the question of land defences, proceeded Mr. Fisher, and the party in the back of the hall was going to repeal the law. (Voice: That is not true.) The Red Feds, were pledged against the law up to the hilt. ON THE BRAIN. Voice: You've got tho Red Feds, on the brain. (Laughter.) Mr. Fisher: No, they've got me on the brain. (Laughter.) The Australian Defence Act was going to teach Great Britain her mistake. (Applause and derision from the back of the hall.) If Britain had listened to Lord Roberts, j that grand old soldier, they would not have had to raise a million men in time of war. (Confused interruption.) Mr. Fisher retorted it was like such men to behave in that way when the name of Lord Roberts wai mentioned. (Storm of protest.) Voice : Give us party politics. PARTY POLITICS. Mr. Fisher then turned to party politics, and explained how the exports had increased by £4,156,000 since the Government came into office. The Customs duties paid per head were £3 3e in 191011, £3 6s 7d in 1911-12, £3 7s 6d m 1912-13, and £3 6s Id m 1913-14, a re- *

duction of Is sd. (Applause.) The Minister passed on to the borrowing policy of the Government, and quoted the familial' figures of the amounts borrowed b>' the Ward Government and the Massey -Government respectively. ' Of the money borrowed by the latter, five and a-half millions sterling was borrowed to pay off the Ward and Mackenzie Governmente. This brought down the real amount borrowed to eight millions. The idea that the Government were the friends. of the rich people , Voice : Is true. Mr. Fisher : What about Sir Joseph J Ward, Mr. Myers, Dr. M'Nab, and Mr. Hickey, and Comrade Dowdall. (Laugh- j tcr.) There are wealthy men on both j sides, but it would be absurd to say that Wellington Central had any large landowners. Voice : Well, yon've got their motorcars. Mr. Fisher: Yes, and I'll get them again if I can. THE GOVERNMENT'S STEWARDSHIP. He proceeded to tell them what they had done with the money they had borrowed, and asked to what amount the Opposition objected to ? They had started off by strengthening the superannuation funds, which had been* left in ! an unsound condition. They had strength- ! ened the Teachers' Fund by £17,000, the \ Public Service Fund by £40.000 per annum, and the Railway Servants' Fund by £25,000 per annum. On the principle that the State should be a. model employer, he mentioned that the Government had increased the pay of the Post and Telegraph Service by £42,500, that of the .police by £18,000, and that of the school teachers by £106,000, and that of the railway servants by £129,000 per annum. i The Minister went on to refer to the reduction of the age at which women could receive the pension from 65 to 60. Under the Customs Bill concessions to the public were made of £30,000. Voice : On what? Mr. Fisher : There was something on the packing cases, but nothing for the hard cases. (Laughter.) Voice : What about the Governor's cigars ? Mr. Fisher said that a Bill was introduced containing a clause allowing the importation of commodities for Government House free. It was done at the instance of the Imperial Government, which pointed out that New Zealand was the only portion of the EmEire where His Majesty's representative ad to pay duty. (Applause.) And the Opposition, which drank the wine and smoked the cigars, had approved. (Laughter. ) Proceeding to other subjects, Mr. Fisher said there was no offering billets to Labour secretaries, as had been done by the previous Government to behead, as it were, by degrees, the Labour Party. The Opposition had declared its intention not to do away withA Commissioner control of the Civil Service. (Hear, hear.) The candidate dealt with the erection of workers' homes, quoting comparative figures already published, it had been said that the State Fire Insurance Department had been mismanaged. On the contrary, the profits for the two years prior to the Massey Government's advent to office were £16,248, and for the two years of the Massey regime £38,331, or more than double the amount. Why? Because business methods had been introduced, in the interests of the whole community, and servants of the 'Department had been stirred to look for new business by a bonus on profits. The Public Trust Office had shown a similar increase of business. Voice : What do you do with the profits? Mr. Fisher : Well, we haven't put forward a £5 haby bonus. (Laughter.) The little dears ! (Renewed laughter.) STRONG ADMINISTRATION WANTED. What the country wanted during the next year or two, said the Minister, was a strong administration, and as little legislation as possible—a sound administration, that was going to keep the country moving all the time. (Applause.) The baby-bonus scheme would impose on the country in fourteen years a liability of over two millions. By that time Sir Joseph Ward and Mr. Hiram Hunter would be celebrating their silver wedding. (Laughter.) It was a scheme simply to attract the Labour Party. It was nothing like the policy of Mr. Andrew Fisher in Australia, and the Labour Party in New Zealand did not understand the Labour Party in Australia at all. (Hear, hear.) He had come to perceive that by long experience, l They said they believed in the right to work, yet during the strike they demanded the right to stop work. The attitude the Massey Government took up' was that if anyone wanted to work no one was going to be allowed to stop him. He asKed what the citizens of Wellington thought during the strike of a selfconstituted oody issuing tickets to Wellington citizens on to their own wharves. 4.11 the way through the contest he was going to insist upon the right to work and against any one body in the community having the right to hold up the whole body politic. (Applause.) Reference was made to the suspension | of the Shipping and Spamen Act during the strike, and, said Mr. Fisher, if the opportunity rose again, he would sus- j pend the Act again. (Applause.) | Voice : You won't get the chance. j Mr. Fisher said a clause in the Act passed by the previous Government enabled the suspension' m take place. Had the vessels which sailed during the strike been manned a-ccordmg to Statute they ■would have carried crew« totalling 1308. Under his directions they carried 1723. Voice : Half Doys. Mr. Fisher : To my mind there's more merit in a half boy who'll work than a whoie man who won't work. (Applause and laughter.) j The Minister said that he would never be disloyal to his colleagues, as he was asked to be during the strike. He had j been dubbed with the title " Rainbow Minister." (Laughter.) Tho Minister Baid he did not mind the title. He went into Parliament to exercise his judgment free and unfettered, and so far as this election was concerned ' Voice: You're going out. Mr. Fisher: Don't bet; I have'never been beaten, yet. I am opposed in this contest Voice : By a good man. This was the signal for loud and tumultuous applause, followed by three cheers Mr. Fisher : It is very invigorating to know there is going to be such a lively contest for Wellington Central. Voice: There's no second ballot and no cars this time. Mr. Fisher: do, I'll be there f\rsfc time. THE "UNHOuV ALLIANCE." • The candidate then ref erred to the alleged compact between the Liberal and Labour Parties on the lines of a previous speech. He took it as a compliment that the parties combined to dig him out with such tremendous efforts. When they saw an alliance brought about between the tattered remnants of the Liberal Party and the Red Feds (Voiceb of protest.) Mr. Fisher : Do you deny it ? Let me read what Mr. Hiram Hunter says : — "In order to put the Reform Government out of office we have had some dealings with Sir Joseph Ward, leader of the Liberal Party, to try to prevent as far as possible the splitting of the Progressive vote, so that the Reactionaries may be put out. in pursuance

with this agreement, the Social Democrat has withdrawn from Wellington Central to allow a cleatir-cut contest between Mr. Fisher and Mr. Fletcher.'" THE GREAT ISSUE. "Now," said Mr. Fisher, "1 put this issue before you — the great issue of the election. You have two alternatives — return of the present Government to power, and the return of the Opposition to power with — (loud applause) — with the Federation of Labour sitting on tho j safety valve dictating the policy."' i Voice : And we're the keel. j Mr. Fisher : I would not be surprised to find you there, because that's where barnacles usually are. (Laughter.) The Opposition party in power, continued the speaker, with the Federation of Labour writing the Speech from the Throne ! What else does this combination of Liberal and Red Federalism mean? Why else could it be there? Voice : Because ' you repealed the Second Ballot. v Turniug to his own stewardship, Mr. Fisher described the reforms he had introduced into the Government Printing Office and read a report from a medical officer to show that the staff were highly contented and in far better health than when he took charge. Previously two girls had fainted every day on an average. (Laughter and voice: Draw it mild!) Mr. Fi6her went on to describe how he had bettered the conditions in the Marine Department, and on the Amokura and the other boats. He had brought Professor Prince to New Zealand and his visit would result in great profit to the country. Voice : Still, fish is dear. A CHALLENGE. The candidate said he would throw down a challenge right now at the outset so far as the Federation of Labour or the Social Democratic Party was concerned. "They lay down throughout,", said Mr. Fisher, "and say : 'We want the right to work ; also we want the right not to work when we don't, want to. We demand the right to fix the rate of pay at which we shall work ; also how much work we are going to do for that pay. Also we want employers to get the land and the buildings, and the plant and the stock, and when all that is done we want to boss the boss.' " The candidate concluded by stating his attitude upon the Bible-m-schools question (reported elsewhere), and' resumed his seat amid hearty applause. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. Asked whether he was in favour of granting full political and civil right* to Civil servants, the Minister replied' in the negative, saying that he did not think a Civil servant should have the right to handle confidential documents, come out and use them perhaps against his own Minister, and then go back it he was defeated. Another question ask ed was: "Are you in favour of an eighthour day for hotel workers?" Mr. Fisher replied that he was responsible for the hotel workers getting a six-day week anyhow. Regarding the Huntly disaster, he declared that it was a grave national dis aster for which no blame rested upon the Administration. The Massey Go vernment, he said, was no more responsible for the Huntly disaster than the Liberal Government was for the Penguin disaster because it had not placed a light on Tongue Point. (Applause.) They thought they could make a very good point by charging the Administration with murder. (A voice: "Certainly.'.') Mr. Fisher: You will charge anything except a special. (Applause.) The man who charged the Administration with murder was the type of man who stood behind his'own womenfolk and threw stones. (Applause.) The candidate pronounced himself in favour of 55 per cent, majority on both issues of 'the licensing I question as an instalment, and the bare majontj ultimately. Personally, he believed that local option was a mistake altogether, and ought to be wiped out. Another questioner asked the candidate whether he was aware that a large, section of the Labour Party, not identified with the Red Feds, had pledged itself to kill the Massey Government? Mr. Fisher replied that he had not been dealing with the United Labour Party, but only with the compact between Mr. Hiram Hunter and Sir Joseph Ward. (Applause. ) The questioner said Mr. Fisher had not answered his question, and put it again. Mr. Fisher : " Yes, but a large section of Labour that thinks is going to work to keep the Massey Government in." (Applause.) Mr. W. G. Thompson moved a hearty vote of thanks to the candidate for his address and of confidence in the Reform Government. The' motion was received with prolonged applause, and after a counter demonstration the candidate thanked the audience for carrying it unanimously. , The gathering concluded with the auctioning of a doll on behalf of the Belgian Fund, which resulted in its being bought for £13.