LABOUR'S CAMPAIGN OPENED.

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 121, 26 May 1925, Page 8

LABOUR'S CAMPAIGN OPENED.

(BI TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.)

AUCKLAND, 25th May. Mr. J. S. Montgomerie, Labour candidate for the Franklin seat, opened his campaign by addressing a meeting at Otahnhn to-night. In opening, Mr. Montgomerie said that i{ one of Mr. Massey's sons had stood Labour would not have contested the seat. He had known Mr. Massey for forty years, and had the highest opinion of him. He expressed deep sympathy with the family in their bereavement. Farmers generally throughout the country, he continued, were very dissatisfied," nearly allcases being preventable. The, freehold system lent itself to land speculation and other abuses. The only remedy was Labour's land policy, including the "usebolcl" tenure, which assured a"farmer of the full fruits of his labour and the value of his improvements, and ensured him security of occupation, besides promoting land settlement. He denied that Labour -was revolutionary. It was seeking to accomplish its ends entirely by. constitutional means, and even if no Labour Tarty existed the trend of public opinion would be in the same direction, as w;ts shown by the growth of co-opera-tion and the export control schemes introduced by the Conservative Government. He had been all his life on the land, and did riot always belong to the Labour Party, but did not make any suddsn change.- He had been going that way for some time, giving that party his support for the past five or six years. What, lie askcil, was (he Con?crvr.('v;~

P;ir|y doing for the people? They ]i:id been bumbusM Loo long by old"parfy _£i'iM,_b^t hs.believed thjit polities could

be made of real benefit to all class.es of people. ■ Votes of thanks and confidence were carried.

The main roll for the Franklin byelection, which has been compiled under the compulsory clauses of the Electoral Act of last year, is now printed and available for public information. Persons who are qualified to register and have not already done so, should take immediate steps to do so. in order that their names may be placed on a supplementary roll now being compiled, as the writ will probably issue on Friday or Saturday next, after which no new names can be entered on the roll.