POLICE IN FORCE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 83, 5 October 1938, Page 23

POLICE IN FORCE

MIRAMAR MEETING

MR. BARKER'S CAMPAIGN

The presence of more than a dozen uniformed "constables stationed in strategic positions in the Capitol Theati-e, Miramar, last evening, revealed the authorities' anticipation that Mr. W. L. Barker, National candidate for Wellington East, would be accorded a more than usually lively reception. The wisdom of the precaution was demonstrated quite early in the meeting, though on the whole the candidate had the audience in his favour, the interruptions coming from I a minor though extremely noisy band of ■ oßstruf I idnisfs. One persistent- interrupter was j ejected after having received several I ■(Earnings"' from & constable, and Mr. Barker threatened that the next person to fee ejected wpuid be prosecuted. "That is only British justice." he, said. . Throughout the address, Mr. Barfcir faced determined opposition from the noisy section; b'uf he was quite equal jto the occasion and he parried the interjections in . a good-humoured I way. ' .. ■ , I Turning to the issues before the I electors at the coming contest, Mr. Barker referred to the Government's "Sunday night entertainer," Who Seemed to be getting worried about his job, for he had fedejl seeking some assurance from the National Party Leader that he would get a "fair go" when Mr. Hamilton became Prime Minister after the election. ''EXCESSIVE GONTfcOL." When Mr. Barker referred to what he dese'rifered as the excessive control by the politicians over our economic life, a storm of protest broke out, causing a constable to warn one of the most persistdrit of the opposition. ."They have got you worried, Bill," called out a voice from the gallery, and several men left the hall. "Not at all," replied Mr. Barker, who pr6eeede.d to, exnouncj his contention that it was hot altogether the economic foundation of a country which was all-important, as "our educational friend of a Sunday evening", had claimed. It was the spirit of the people which really counted, then willingness to work and their love of freedom and justice. ♦ Cries of "Leave Scrim alone" greeted the candidate's frequent references to the Sunday evening broadcasts, and Mr. Barker retorted: "Does the mention of his name hurt you so much?" The speaker dealt with the financial situation of New Zealand on the lines of his previous addresses, claiming that the Government was financially embarrassed and would shortly be forced to raise a compulsory loan through the trading banks, the resources of the Reserve Bank having been already strained by expenditure upon useless and wasteful public works. This statement was met with dissent, causing Mr. Barker to issue a warning that when the trading banks became" embarrassed the financial position of a country was serious. A voice: The banks still pay their 10 per cent. Mr. Barker: They are able- to do that only because they are putting less into reserves. And that is the position of many companies in New Zealand today; there is no future for investments under the new aristocracy of the people and these enterprises are gradually being squeezed out of business. OPPORTUNITY STIFLED. Opportunity was being stifled, the speaker continued, and the basis of the I country's productive capacity was j being destroyed by the creation of an I army of pick*and*shovel workers. Masses of people today were being fed from taxation instead of being diverted into productive industrial channels.

The meeting concluded with cheers for Mr. Hamilton, countered by cheers for the Labour Party.

Mr. R. G. Mexted presided