LABOUR CANDIDATE'S CAMPAIGN

Evening Post, Volume XCVIII, Issue 140, 11 December 1919, Page 10

LABOUR CANDIDATE'S CAMPAIGN

An open-air meeting was addressed by Mr. J. Read, Labour candidate for Wellington North, at. Sydney-street last evening, there being a good attendance. Mr. Read dealt at some length with the address, or platform, which his Reform opponent had sent out to the electors of the constituency. Speaking on the matter of unrest in the community, Mr. Read said that this was not necessarily an unhealthy sign, as in all times when unrest asserted itself it was on account of injustices in the social system, and that was-the case to-day. As a! matter of fact, if it were not for unrest arising front time to time, our social progress would he arrested, and instead of forging ahead towards a juster social system,, we would be moving backward. It was a scientific fact that society could, not stand still, but must move either in one direction or the other. The Labour Party was proposing to go ahead, but he asserted his opponents had no goal, no ideal, and no views with regard to the future. On the question of housing, he asserted' that the Labour Party's proposals were the wisest yet brought forward in the interest of the mass of tho people. It was strange, said Mr. Read, how generous some ctf ■ the Tory candidates became at election times. They had Mr., Luke proposing free school books and requisites, during the campaign, although he had done nothing to secure these while he was in the House. MILITARISM. On the matter of militarism, the candidate pointed out that the Labour Party was the only one which stood absolutely for inculcation of the love of peace, as against the show and blare of militarism, with its concomitants of "cushy" jobs for officers. The world could not afford to keep such a useless machine in existence while it called for greater production of wealth. Militarism spelt waste the world over and all the time, and only intensified the evil when it got to action in war. The war had demonstrated that if the civilised world turned its attention to the production of wealth for use, instead of the profit of a few, it v?ould be possible for the whole of the working people.to be living in affluence. The time had come when we had. to choose whether we vvould' go on increasing the number of millionaires and very wealthy with its obverse of a very poor' section of the nations, or turn its attention to making the world more comfortable for all. No man had a right to go through life without rendering useful service to the community when it was known that he had to draw on the community for all his needs. They had the remarkable spectacle of Tories coming before the electors and proposing schemes of nationalisation, but he was satisfied that the people would not be misled into supporting them, for if they did it could only be expected that the schemes brought forward by them would not be run with a view to making the best of them, for fear they acted in an injurious manner to private I enterprise. I • FAIR SYSTEM OF ELECTION. I Mr. Read then pointed out that he [ stood for a fair system of election, the only one offering being proportional representation. Ho ventured to predict that the people, in disgust at the manner in which the two opposing parties had shelved this matter, would help, the Labour Party to power to secure a. better and fairer method of representation than the first past the post, which Mr. Luke had declared himself in favour of. If Labour were to score in "this election— and he ventured to say it would do so— they should witness a striking change in the views of his opponents. Mr. Read then dealt with some of the planks in the Labour platform, incidentally remarking that the Liberal Party had paid the Labour Party tho greatest compliment it could by comrnundeerin" a portion of the platform, but mere: gramaphone iterations and reiterations/ of parrot-like phrases would not tell in an election, which was being fought on very serious issues, which would have a telling effect on the history of New Zealand for a very long period. -vrA v °ta°{ thanks to and confidence in Mr Read was carried by acclamation, with cheers for the Labour Party