THE OTAKISEAT

Evening Post, Volume XCVIII, Issue 117, 14 November 1919, Page 3

THE OTAKISEAT

VIEWS OF AN INDEPENDENT

MR. E. MACDONALD AT PORIRUA.

Mr. Evelyn Macdonald. who is standing as an Independent candidate for the Otaki seat, addressed a meeting of ■electors at Porirua last evening in the Hall. The attendance numbered about fifty. Mr. William Ratcliffe was voted to the chair The candidate described himself as a progressive liberal and Labour candidate. He was also an Independent, not being a member of any body, not even a Church. He was satisfied the people of New Zealand wanted a change, and he felt there would be a break up of the old parties. His policy was his own policy, the outcome of many years of interest in politics. He had been a working farmer with twenty-four years' experience in tho backblocks—the Forty-mile Bush. And now ho was independent. There was need to-day, he continued,'-of more unselfishness. Men had organised into unions for selfish ends, and the state of things was like that of ancient barbarism—men walking about with clubs in their hands, looking for other men. Politics were in a state of chaos. Altruism was needed in statesmanship, and •the old maxim of "might is right" should die. There was opportunity for a new era, and the same principle should rule ■in lesser affairs. The strong must not crush the weak, and the aim of all men should bo lo support the weak. In spite of the demand for men free of the political shibboleth, they saw again the same old cries, the same party cleavage, the same personal bitterness. (Hear, hear.) "FLOWERS OF ONE PETAL." The speaker proceeded to outline his politics. He was against the conservatism that deadened national life. The old digger influence had been felt through thf hide-bound Torj days, and it had been widespread among the boys in France—-in the sinkage of class. In the days of the late Mr. Seddon, the Conservative Party had fought measures they had to support to-day They dared not repeal such legislation as the Advances to Settlers Act or the Old Age Pensions Act. The raising of the rate of interest had taken the good out of the Mortgages Extension Act. As a membei .of a branch of the Farmers' Union he had gone into the matter, and had laid facts before members, who had condemned most severely the cases under their notice. Mr. Mac Donald gave instances. The action if the Advances Department during a period of the war was to be censured, as they had extracted valuation fees, and refused loans. The financial position of the world had changed, and the proposal for a State Bank, dueoriginally to Labour, was elsewhere adopted now. He would not support the proposal to take over the Bank of New Zealand or the National Bank. He believed in Land Banks. To-day Mr Massey had turned ship-nationaliser, Sir Joseph Ward a bank-nationaliser, and Mr. Guthrie was almost a land-national-iser. They might be full-blown nationalisers one day, instead of being flowers of one petal. Strong and sincere men were wanted to-day, not men who trim' mcd their sails to every breeze The cry of wolf, raised by Conservatives, ,was the beginning of class-war. Voters had a responsibility. It was the voter who had to mould the destiny of the country Unless the voter used his vote conscientiously, earnestly, he had not a right to vote. (Hear, hear.) AGAINST EXTREMISTS. He was opposed to the extremists in any direction, and that was still his attitude. Extremists were men who worked on the instinct of the savage, whether they cried, "Tyrant!" or "Slave!" Extremists were those who sought purely selfish ends, without regard to conscience, those who demanded^ a one-sided socialisation, men who rendered the world unsafe to democracy. A man who had come, to give and suffer, rather than ■to grab was the man they wanted. Voters should cut adrift from axegrinders, and slaves of the Party whip. This was a land of freedom, but not a land of a perfect Constitution yet. Democracy was getting stronger and stronger all over the world. There was a danger that the old aristocracies in_ their downfall might drag others down into a frightful condition. The old Conservative instincts died hard. Many of these Conservatives were beginning to see that they must meet the demands of the masses halfway. Hence Mr. Massey's half Socialistic' programme, which he feared the leader's colleagues would never allow him to pass. The Farmers' Union stood for free trade in lands, even endowment lands. Anomalies of valuation existed all through New Zealand. He knew of land on one side of a fence valued at £15 an acre, and on the other at £53, and the quality was the same. The system was invidious ■ and unfair. Some lands had remained at the same valuation for thirty years. Farmers had caught the speculative fpver, and had sold out at prices that tended only to the in-flation-of values. This accounted for. the prices the Government had to pay to repatriate the "boys," who deserved better treatment. (Hear, hear.) HELP THE FARMER, Mr. Macdonald gave his suggestions for a policy to defeat aggregation. The State had "the right to cut up ill-farmed land, but it should give the farmer five years to impove the land, if ill-farmed. If there was no improvement, the State should have the right to step_ in and take over the property at a fair valuation. Men seeking land transfers should be required to show they wanted the land for boiia-fide .farming purposes. Irregularities in tho shape of repeated applications for transfer by the same person should be met by power to refuse. If the graduated land tax was not sufficient to prevent aggregation, it should be increased. The Farmers' Union asked for it. The candidate detailed the Farmers' Political Policy (already published), which it is intended to submit to the various branches of the Farmers' Union and later to the Dominion Conference. A great deal more ovght to be done than at present for public health. There should be a- great extension of maternity hospitals. Mr Macdonald described the experience of his young family in the backbloeks. The present lack of these aids to the welfare of the future citizen of the Dominion was a standing disgrace. Land opened in 1887 had roads to-day which were declared "unsafe for traffic." Money had been spent in driblets without, doing any good. The State should subsidise travelling dental outfits to look after the tenth of people, especially children, in the backblocks. In conclupion, the candidate outlined furthor planks in his pint/arm, iiwlud'flg the periodical and progressive coueolida-

tion of the Statutes, with provision that copies should be available in the public libary or other building in every centre of population. He suggested a House of. Ladies as an adjunct to the Second Chamber. He believed every citizen should have two votes—one positive, one negative—with some system such as proportional representation. As for Defence, it ought to be reduced to a peace footing, and they should avoid establishing a military caste at all costs. In Education, he advocated the establishment of State boarding schools, and provision of adult training, with supply of text books at the lowest possible cost. In answer to .questions, the candidate said, in event of a no-confidence motion, he would probably be found voting with the Liberals, to whom he had always belonged, but ho might be found voting with Labour, which, if it kept its principles unbesmtrched, might yet govern New Zealand. (Hear, hear.) He was in favour of Prohibition, but he was not an extremist, and he believed in a square deal there as elsewhere. (Applause. ) The candidate -was accorded, with applause, a veiy hearty vote of thanks for his address.