THE OTAKI CONTEST

Evening Post, Volume XCVIII, Issue 116, 13 November 1919, Page 3

THE OTAKI CONTEST

MR. FIELD AT UPPER HUTT

Mr. W. H. Field, M.P., Reform candidate for the Otaki seat, addressed a meeting of about a hundred friends and supporters in the Town Hall, Upper Hutt, last evening. Mr. P. W. Robertson presided.

I The candidate reminded his audience that he was not an entire stranger to them, as Upper Hutt was included in the Otaki electorate when he' first entered Parliament as member for the district oil the death of his brother in 1999. He trusted the electors would repeat the confidence they had shown in him then. (Applause.) Dealing with politics generally, Mr. Field paid a tribute to the loyal co-operation in the legislation of the past few years by the Liberal Party under the leadership of Sir Joseph Ward. He then referred to the motto of the " Labour candidate: "The rights of humanity are greater than the rights of property." With this they were all agreed. Mr. Mackenzie belonged to the Labour Party, which was an extreme Socialist party. Its platform was the thin end of the wedge in the.avowed project oE the "Socialisation of the means of production, distribution, and exchange." Reference was also made by the speaker to the other candidates. Mr Field maintained that though he had changed his party, he had not changed his politics. Neither party would be content to stay in power with the assistance of the Labour Party. Should neither the Liberal nor the Reform Party gain an absolute majority, there would be a fusion of the two parties with a view to forming a government —a very happy consequence all would think who deplored the present division, which only opened the way to extremism. The speaker then dealt with the work of the National Government on the lines of his Waikanae speech, venturing the opinion that taxation had fallen perhaps a little too heavily on the farmer. But for the large volume of revenue and the high price of products, there would have been considerable distress and unemployment. Farmers had sold their\ products at a less price than they could have obtained in the open world's market. It was the middleman in the Old Country that had made the profits, not the producer here. The cost of living had increased in New Zealand less than in any other part of the world. There was no question, however, that a large amount of profiteering went on. Enormous profits were made in some forms of merchandise jmported into this country. Mr. Field then detailed the legislation of the last session,' to show how the Reform Government was meeting the demands of the people. The programme for the future emphasised economy, and reform of taxation, development of ■ back country, and the utilisation of water power, better agriculture, and the encouragement of industries, especially the manufacture of wool. Mr. Field concluded with a statement of the financial position of the country which had to face a natural debt of £92 per head of population, apart from war debt. Was it a wise thing to experiment in politics at the present time ? Better to go on with a safe, sane Government, of men of experience. There was quite enough Socialism here already. What was there wrong with New Zealand? Let them go on moderate lines and elect . moderate men. The motto should be :. "Loyalty to King and Empire, and the welfare of New Zealand." (Applause.) In answer- to questions, Mr. Field said lie could not see any just reason why retrospective allowances should not be paid to wives of early volunteers who were kept on home service. The test of land aggregation was whether it was a menace to the community He had never encouraged farmers to arm and shoot down workers. He had said farmers had a right to arm themselves in defence of their rights. He would say it again on a thousand, platforms, that they had to defend themselves against Bolshevism, in case of an attempt to seize the Government of the country. It was not so very long ago since he worked for 6s a day on a survey party. There were just the same opportunities to-day. (Cries of Oh ! Oh!) He could not see how they could alter the conditions of rich and poor. A fair thing ought to be done to Government employees in receipt of small salaries." He would. join the strongest moderate party that came back after the election. If" Sir Joseph Ward came back with b clear majority, he would be prepared to join him. This was, he understood, the intention of a large number of candidates. The candidate was accorded a vote of thanks for his address. . ■