PLATFORM POINTS

Evening Post, Volume XCVIII, Issue 143, 15 December 1919, Page 5

PLATFORM POINTS

"You say you have no right to compel a'man to go to war because he is a conscientious objector," declared - CoLonel Mitchell to, a party of opposite view at Berhampore last evening. ("Hear, hear." from the opposition.) "Then," said the candidate, "v6u have no right to compel a man against his conscience to belong to a union." (Applause, cheers, and uproar.) "If I know, my country," said the colonel at a later stage, after one .or two pa-saages with the representatives of Labour, "they will never submit to let the Red Flag of Socialism replace the British, flag of liberty." (Prolonged applause.) -

Teachers and their ■ pay formed, the subject of Mr Croskoi-y s address at Wadestown on Saturday night. Owing to the totally inadequate pay being received byvjihe teaching staffs of our public scho6ls, he said, they wete gradxially seeing better opportunities in commercial' lifOj and were drifting into offices and work other than the all important profession of teaching. There was no hope of our obtaining a, good system of education until men and women were given some better inducement to.enter the ranks of the teachers.

The rumour that the elections .will be followed by a- great " go-slow"• strike was referred to'by,Mr. R. Semple when speaking at a Labour demonstration ia

the'Paramonnt Theatre last night. He .claimed that this,.was merely one of the ?'bogeys''; that were »being put up to frighten people from voting for Labour. Mr. Semple did not develop the subject ar^y, further, but claimed that if the people gave either Mr. Massey .or Sir Joseph Ward a mandate to carry on they ■xfould "put the big boots on." "But if you do give them this mandate," he added, "I. will suffer for you, and say nothing; I lwill lay in the dungeon with jjteu and be the last to squeal (I have lain there before, and I will go there again), lot I ■ shall never lean to the will of the tjtant or his lash either."

' "Schools in Wellington are anything teat a credit in their buildings arid grounds," said Colonel Mitchell at BerKSmpore. "If there is 'one thing we cannot afford to be parsimonious about it is e&ucatipn. It is our duty to do all we can for the child, to make him the best possible citizen wo can produce: I may bp" wrong, but I think our education in regard to girls is wrong- The last period of a girl's life at'school should be devoted to domestic science,' and the girl should be taught the spirit of the home instead of the spirit of the office. (Applause.) But it.is.no good building fine sEhbols" and providing bi§ playgrounds tmless "we raise the teaching profession fo^a far higher level than it holds today." ; (Applause.)

"References to the Union Jack and the S«d Flag were made by Mr. P. Fraser, candidate for Wellington Central, at the Paramount Theatre last night. "By an advertisement," he said, "you have been asked to consider under which flag you will vote- Tlie Labour Party has but o^e flag, and I am willing to accept it— the Red Flag—the flag of the international working-class movement, the ifag of the working and toiling men and women, of every country under the sun, and the flag that is pre-destined to fly triumphantly over all humanity when humanity is blended together and living iii brotherhood. Regarding the other flag-, we deny the right of the Welfare League or any gang of exploiters to take i£P- The British flag is surely too im : pbrtant to be dragged into the mud by any gang of exploiters that like to place themselves around it. ... We be-

Heve that their flag is not the red flag— not the red, white, and blue flag, but the black flag, the black flag with the skull and crossbones of the pirate. And you have to choose on election day whether you are to vote for .the-black flag that stajids for profiteering, the exploiters of you-'and the homej you live in, the exploiters of the food of your children, and that stands for everything that is fonl and degrading in civilisation—whether you will stand for that ■ black flag and its skull and crossbones of which Mr. Skerrett and his friends are so proud, or whether you will vote for the workingclass flag."

rWhen Mr. R. A. Wright was referring to certain matters of interest to women voters at-one of his meetings, a heckler cjilled out: "Now you are vote-catch-ing." ■■ "Well," eaid Mr. Wright, "what <ib you suppose lam here for? Certainly .dot for the good of my health. I am here oxpressly -for the purpose of catching votes. -The other candidates may Kave other objects in view, but I hav§ ilot, because I believe the man who catches the most votes will win."

« "Shortly after war broke out, Sir Joseph Ward was Waited upon by a Reputation, asking him to consider the advisability of the State purchasing the Union Steam Ship Company," said Mr Groskery ■at Wadesto-wn .on Saturday evening."- "That Minister's reply was ihat it would cost New Zealand from ■£1,000,000 to £1,500,000 to effect the purchßse, and it could not afford to do 4b. Nevertheless, the New Zealand Government had, during the war, paid to the tTnion Steam Ship Company something like £6,000,000 for the use of its vessels its transports, etc. Such was a sad mistake and a bad policy. Even now it is not too late for the State to purchase its own vessels, and use them for trade." '■ "As tramway moioimen have to pass sin examination and test under Government supervision, would you classify them as skilled workers?" asked an elector of Colonial Mitchell at Berhampore. "Yes,'V he replied, "a man who had io pass suoh a test should be classed as a skilled worker."

•: A circular has been addressed to all Candidates by the Home Service League New Zealand containing the following .question. "If elected to Parliament, will you vote in the House in support of a proposal to. pay members of the Home |jervice Branch of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force a war gratuity, and &lso to bring such men under the provisions, and within the scope of the Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Act,' 1915, £nd the Repatriation Act, 1918?" At a Itieeting of the league held at the Chamber of Commerce on Saturday evening, with an attendance of forty-five, it was decided to pnblish the answers of candidates before the election. The general public is to be invited to a meeting, .where the objects and aims of the league ■will b© explained, and the City Council is to be approached for the use of the Concert Chamber for that purpose. Encouraging replies have been received from some, of the local candidates, and others, offering every assistance. An energetio canvass is projected for increased

t "1 am with my friends of the Labour Sfarty," said Colonel Mitchell at Berhampore iVarfc- ■ evening, "in advocating a State-owned shipping service. I think the present shipping ring that controls transport, to and from and about New Zealand is the biggest octopus we have in fhe whole country. (Applause.) The Shipping companies can say it is not euitable to send any ship io New Zealand for a month and we shonld be in a very •Bad way indeed. ■ No pompany or any Jjody of :- individuals has any right, to practically strangle a country as theee people could do, if they liked. I advocate a State-owned shipping service because I think transport is a function jof the State." Colonel Mitchell differentiated his advocacy of Government •ijontrol of the coal-mines as a matter ■t>i expediency. ;

- "One. of the charges laid against me is that X am a hide-bound Tory. This was ttreaclful. A Tory was bad enough, but for a. hide-bound Ttory there was no hope neither in this wo^ld nor the world to pome."—Mr. Wright at Worser Bay.

; "If an investigation was made of the landed property purchased for soldiers," T&aid Mr. H. 0. Browne (Wellington ■North) at his meeting on Saturday night, "you would have such a scandal ■as would make your hair stand on end." Many of the soldiers who had bought such properties had. paid too high prices, bid when' prices dropped somebody trbuld suffer.

In dealing with the housing question pi his meeting at Wadestown on Saturday evening Mr. Croskery stated that whereas £850 each was the -estimated cost of concrete houses for workers, £1050 was the amount of the lowest tender. The only way out of the difficulty was to cut out the rings and combines which w\ere '" operation in this business. Mid let the State wotlc its own mills and plant for tlie providing of such homes, timber prices in New Zealand, a3 comsired wjtb! ■_ those .in, Australia, were jjuoted by th© speaker, who -was of tfy> opinion that if State control were in Apsration, as the' Labow Party urged,

houses would be built and rented at nofc more than 12s 6d per week. There was no solution to the difficulty until profiteering had been stopped.

"I believe there is less true democracy about Labour representation than about 'that of the other parties," said Colonel Mitchell at Berhampore last, evening. "A little coterie is in control of the candidates and dictates the policy and platform." Voice: "That's a lie." (Uproar.) "I am told," continued tha candidate, "the candidates have to place their signed resignations in the hands of the caucus." Voice: "Rot." Colonel Mitchell: "He is a representative not of the people, but of a caucus." Voice : "The Reform Party and the Liberal Party are just the same." Colonel Mitchell: "Then thank God I am an Independent." (Loud and prolonged applause.)

" When the war broke out, there were a thousand and one things to be done," said Mr. H. Oakley Browne (Wellington North) on Saturday night, " and it was necessary to drop party politics. The Leader of the Opposition (Sir Joseph Ward) played the game, played it right through. What thanks did he get? He got no thanks, and when the National Government came to an end Sir Joseph Ward left it. In the opinion of those who have followed the history o£ the Dominion he did the right thing. He had joined the National Government because it was the right thing for New Zealand, and he left the National Government because he considered that he could not be tied to a Cabinet which waa not on the side of the people, but on the side of those who had wealth and prosperity, in order that he might fight for the freedom and liberty of the people. In the Governor's Speech not a word was said about the magnificent services rendered to this country by Sir Joseph Ward. When, later, the Budget was brought down by Sir James Allen, not a word was said about the man who had financed the country during the war period, and left fifteen millions in the Treasury."

" Too many electors imagine that as they have but one vote, it is immaterial whether they record it or not. 'Because they believe their conduct to be safe, they allow trifles to keep them away from the poll. Such a course is highly dangerous. Five hundred electors might pursue this policy, with the result that the election would be lost. He wanted every vote, and lie trusted his supporters would not allow anything to prevent them from attending the polling-booth on Wednesday—Mr. Wright at Worser Bay.