PARTY POLITICS

Evening Post, Volume XCI, Issue 92, 18 April 1916, Page 8

PARTY POLITICS

SPEECH BY THE PRIME

MINISTER

"VICTOKY AT THE END.

" Would that party politics disappeared altogether." was the fervently expressed wish of the Chairman of thu Wellington Chamber of Commerce today. He strongly deprecated criticising the Government at the present time, but he ventured to suggest that if anyone had any ideas, then they should submit them £o the Government to help it. In that spirit he suggested that the Government should keep an eye upon the large accumulation of private funds,. and also to see the expenditure of public money> except for war purposes, should

He paraphrased the well-known hymn, " For Satan finds some mischief still For idle hands to do."

The Chairman proposed the health of the Ministers present—the Prime Minister and Minister, of Customs.

Prime Minister, referring.to the National Government, said the members, while objecting to misrepresentation, welcomed criticism. . In this connection the Defence Department, I>o said, had had none of its fair share of criticism of late. But had not the Defence Department delivered the goods? They had ; and they had delivered the goods of the highest quality and to contract time. The Government had been criticised with respect to the cost of living; but it was not responsible for that. The cost always did increase in time of war; but all the same the increase of the cost of living in New Zealand was lower than in any other part of the British Dominions, and it was less than half the increase in some other dominions. He knew that there was exploitation, but during.war was there not always exploitation? Yet lie ventured to say this : That there was less of it here than anywhere else.

He. then referred to the wonderful trade of New Zealand, and gave the following comparisons: — Trade per headIn New Zealand, £49 6s 9d per head ; Australia, i £25 11s 2d per head; Canada, £26" 7s 2d per head; United Kingdom, £28 12s 3d per head. He hoped something would be done 1 • prevent the enemy ever again holcliu the position in trade in the British !'■•' minions- he once held. He trusted tin the Paris Conference would be but ;'. forerunner of similar conferences in ' future, and that New Zealand would represented thereat. He feared tlie i of the war was a long way off yet, victory was at the end.