ELECTION CAMPAIGN NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 65, 14 September 1943, Page 6

ELECTION CAMPAIGN NOTES

Free Medical Service. ! "Some of the doctors have not played the game," said Mr. R. McKeen, Labour candidate for Wellington South, last night, when replying to a questioner, who contended that the Government had failed signally in its free medical service. Mr. McKeen said he knew of one Wellington doctor who had a placard in his waiting-room stating that he did not operate under social security and would not sign social security forms. Patients, consequently, had to pay the full fee. A voice: It's a racket. Mr. McKeen said the Government was doing as much as it possibly could to extend the whole scheme until it was free. His Personal View. The Minister of Supply (Mr. Sullivan) said yesterday that he fad discussed with Dr. Martin Finlay, Labour candidate for Remuera, a statement made by Dr. Finlay concerning the protection of New Zealand manufacturers after the war, and learned that Dr. Finlay viewed the statement as entirely personal, states a Press Association message from Auckland. Mr. Sullivan said he was pleased that Dr. Finlay had no intention of associating the Government with the statement, because the Government stoo.d foursquare for development of all the Dominion's resources, primary and secondary, and steps would be continued to that end. The Government had no intention of receding from the present policy of import selection and tariff protection. The Extra Bedroom. One mistake the Government had made in its housing plans in the past was that in the units with two bedrooms no provision had been made for an additional bedroom, said Mr. R. McKeen, Labour candidate for Wellington South, last night. "The result was that when the family came along the house was too small," he said. "In the new plans that are now out for State houses arrangements have been made for the addition of that extra bedroom when occasion demands it." "The Greatest Enemy." "Bureaucratic control, fastening itself tenaciously to every phase of economic life, is the greatest enemy j within New Zealand today," said Mr. T. C. A. Hislop,' National candidate for Wellington North, last night. "Slothful and inept, it discreetly cloaks inefficiency, gives a false glamour to political expediency, and strangles initiative," he added. "It strikes insiduously at the very foundations of freedom. Common sense and political decency demand that it be removed," he said in indicting the Government £,or delegating to self-opinionated officialdom plenary powers and prerogatives which were the traditional right' of the people. This cancerous growth of dictatorship must be cut out at the jvery core. Labour had policed and perpetuated a system whicn abrogated the ''cherished right of self-expression, and the creaking and groaning of the unwieldy machine was silenced by an inspired political censorship. Never was the time more urgent than today to throw off the bureaucratic stupor which was settling over the country and imperilling the whole structure of domestic as well as national life. This was no time for timidity or procrastination." Let the people denounce this thing emphatically on polling day; let them show that they would no longer tolerate this colossal measure of State interference which was beginning to dominate their every move in life, or their existence would soon become merely a procession of dictated events. Expensive Matches. "Had the Forty-mile Bush been standing today it would be worth something like a thousand pounds," remarked Mr. H. E. Combs (Labour) last night when he was talking about Labour's afforestation plans. As many as 20,000 men could be employed in the very necessary ■ work of planting hills and marginal lands. Although exotic trees grew quicker, they did not intend to concentrate solely on them, but to plant native trees so as to give back to the country what had been so ruthlessly taken away by a box of matches. Reply to a Challenge. Accepting the challenge published by the organisation styling itself the Wellington Society for the Taxation of Land Values, Mr. T. C. A. Hislop, in his election address last night, flatly repudiated any suggestion that he had advocated placing the burden of hospital taxation on the wage-earners. His proposal, he said, had been that the greater proportion of the hospital taxation now resting on ratepayers should be borne by the Consolidated Fund, to which all contributed on a graduated scale. This was a very different thing. At present there were people who were not ratepayers, but who had large assets and incomes, and did not contribute a penny. Property owners who paid the hospital levy had no recourse but to pass on the charge in rentals where the properties were let. A Denial. Speaking at Te Awamutu the Minister, of Supply (Mr. Sullivan) gave a definite denial to the allegation that the Government was dominated by outsiders, notably the Federation of Labour. In his term as Acting Prime Minister, he said, he had never been approached by the federation on any question whatsoever. —P.A. Travel Facilities. "I do think that facilities should be created for helping women with children when they are travelling," said Mr. J. J. Maher, National Party candidate for the Wairarapa seat, speaking at Tinui. "I have to go through Wellington Station a good deal, and I have been appalled at the sight of! many women struggling with luggage and children along the platform. It may be that their homes have been broken up because the husband is going to the war, and they are going back to live wtih the grandparents. There should be a service provided by the Government to meet trains and steamers and to help these poor women. It would not cost very much, but it would be a wonderful boon to mothers with children. This is a matter I intend to advocate as strongly as I possibly can." Candidate Withdraws. Flying Officer R. Clayton, Independent candidate for Patea, less than 24 hours after his nomination, announced that for health reasons and the strain of a single-handed campaign, he was retiring from the contest. He said he was not physically fit when he began his campaign. He had no previous experience whatever, and he found the single-handed organisation and conduct of a short "first" campaign in a large electorate becoming a heavy strain. "I realised I had bitten off more than I could chew," he admitted. He is the second candidate to retire from this election in Patea, Mr. P. B. Fitzherbert having also withdrawn from his candidature with the Democratic Labour Party. Fooling. "Every man wno says he is standing for Parliament as an Independent is either fooling you or fooling himself— or both. If you vote for him he is fooling you, and if he is not elected he is fooling himself. I will not say anything harsher than that." —Mr. J. W. Munro, Labour candidate for Dunedin North, at Dunedin. "Baby-saving" Flats. "These are the baby-saving flats, very good flats, with two good rooms, kitchen, bathroom, and so on, that were opened with a great flourish of trumpets in a terrific downpour of rain two Saturdays ago, but are not yet occupied," said Mr. T. C. A. Hislop (National, Wellington North) at the Molesworth Street Methodist Hall last evening, in reference to the Dixon Street flats. He wondered why there had been that great opening a fortnight ago, but perhaps it was because of an impending election. The Minister said a great many things in a state of rhetorical enthusiasm, and he said that as soon as married couples had a child they would go out. Why should a married couple with a child or two children not go into the flats today if they would be in better living conditions than they were now? He knew of couples with two and more children living in far more crowded conditions. At the cost of the flats the Government could have built 150 houses at £1000 each. ■ j

"Labour Rot Has Set In." "The Labour rot has set in and you are going to see the reflection of it on September 25," declared Mr. Will Appleton, National candidate for Wellington Central, in the Methodist Hall, Webb Street, last night. "'You are going to see that those people who have got the audacity to try and control New Zealand from the Trades Hall will go out on their ear. We find them today getting very jittery and they have got good reason to be. They are going round in circles and don't know which way to capture public opinion." Mr. Appleton added that Mr. Peter Butler and "one of his henchmen" were trying to arrange meetings in factories for Mr. Fraser, arid were suggesting that the meetings be held between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Why not the lunch hour? It was apparently thought that the employers should fall over themselves to- meet Mr. Fraser. In the election contest Mr. Fraser was a candidate for Parliament and was in no different position from other candidates in regard to special preference. • War Risk Insurance. The opinion that it was time for a definite statement by the Government on what was to be done with the < money paid in the past, two years as war risk insurance was expressed at the Molesworth Street Methodist Hall last evening by Mr. T. C. A. Hislop (National, Wellington North). It seemed extremely doubtful to him, he said, whether there would be any claim against the fund, which was now reaching very large figures. Was it simply to be another of those funds that was going to be raided for some other purpose? He suggested it was time the Government said that if there ' were no claims people would get their money back. Work for All. The Railway Department was prepared to spend £10,000,000, mostly on man-power, in straightening curves, duplicating tracks, and generally overhauling the system, said Mr. H. E. Combs (Labour) last night when pointing out that after the war there would be no lack of work. A similar sum could be spent on hydro-electric schemes, and on telephone exchanges alone the P. and T. Department was prepared to spend £3,000,000. No fewer than 20,000 men could be profitably employed on afforestation schemes, and 50,000 houses needed building. Labour, said Mr. Combs, had plans for all these and other activities designed to recondition New Zealand. Labour was prepared also to ) provide specialised training for those showing the necessary aptitude, and intended the country 40 have sufficient doctors, dentists, and nurses. There would be no lack of opportunity for any man or woman needing rehabilitation after the war. Sales Tax. "Before the Labour Party came into power, Mr. Fraser strongly criticised the sales tax, Mr. Semple called it. a savage tax imposed on a suffering people, and Mr. Savage said it was a most iniquitous tax that would be removed from the Statute Book," said Mr. D. Murdoch, National Party candidate for Dunedin South. "Mr. Savage was undoubtedly sincere, but unfortunately he died. Now what do we see? The sales tax under the Labour Government is 20 per cent., or four times the original tax." Land Sales Bill. "We maintain that sales of land must go through a proper procedure," said Lieutenant J. B. Cotterill, Labour candidate for Wanganui, when defending the Servicemen's Settlement and Land Sales Bill. As an example of land speculation, Mr. Cotterill quoted a block of 120 acres in Taranaki which changed hands six times in the course of two years. The original price was £30 an acre, bringing the total to £3600, but when it finally changed hands the price had increased to £95 an acre. During the same period the commission of land agents amounted to £1113. The speaker quoted other examples of land prices soaring within a short period, and said the Bill was designed to prevent this sort of thing. That's Right! , "Go on, you're a controller yourself." said s>n interjector at Mr. C. M. Bowden's meeting last evening when he was dealing with the system o? boards and controls set up by the Government. "That's right," said the candidate. "I am the voluntary and honorary food controller of the . Wellington E.P.S., ready to serve the citizens in case of emergency. The difference is that I hope my services will never be called into action." "Nothing Too Good." Speaking on the Government's work for the rehabilitation of returned servicemen, the Democratic Labour candidate for Dunedin > Central, Mr. J. A. Peat, said that when men were welcomed back by the Prime Minister and others they were told that nothing was too good for them. Many of these servicemen now realised that this was meant with the emphasis on the word "nothing." ELECTION MEETINGS. Aircraftman C. G. Scrimgeour (Independent, Wellington Central), Roseneath State School, tonight, 8; Realm Hall, Hataitai, tomorrow; Kent Terrace Presbyterian Schoolroom, Thursday evening; De Luxe Theatre, Sunday. Mr. A. C. Barringtou (Christian Pacifist. Wellington East), Methodist Hall, Onepu Road, tomorrow, 8 p.m.; Band Rotunda, Lyall Bay, Saturday, 2.30 p.m.; Basin Reserve, Sunday, 2.30 p.m. Mr. A. H. Carman (Independent, Wellington North), St. Peter's Church Hall, Willis Street, "tonight, 8; tomorrow, Congregational Church Hall, Bowen Street. Mr. T. C. A. Hislop (National, Wellington North), Methodist Hall, Webb Street, tonight; ladies' meeting Y.W.C.A. lounge, Boulcott Street, tomorrow, 2.30 p.m.; St. Francis Hall, Hill Street, tomorrow, 8 p.m. Mr. C. M. Bowden (National, Wellington West), Ridgeway Street' School, Mornington. tonight, 8. Major W. Bishop {Democratic • Labour, Wellington West), Houghton Bay Hall, tonight, 8; Academy Hall, Miramar, tomorrow, 8 p.m. Mr. S. McDougall (Democratic Labour, Wellington West), Karori West School, tonight, 8; Makara, tomorrow night. Private -C. Teece (Democratic Labour, Wellington South), Masonic ; Hall, Island Bay, tonight, 8; Tutanekai < Hall, Berhampore, tomorrow, 8 p.m. ; Mr. L. Frame (Democratic Labour, : Wellington Suburbs), Korokoro School, ■ tonight, 8; Parish Hall, Wadestown, i tomorrow, 8 p.m.; Empress Theatre, < Johnsonville, Thursday, 8 p.m. : Mr. H. E. Herring (Democratic : Labour, Wellington North), Trades i Hall, Vivian St., tonight, 8. ■ ■ : Mr. P. Connoi-s (Democratic Labour, Hutt), Methodist Sunday School, tonight, 8. Mr. J. Barnett (Democratic Labour, Otaki), Anglican Church Hall, Otaki, tonight, 8; Sunday School Hali, Paraparaumu, tomorrow, 8 p.m. \ Mr. W. Appleton's meeting adver- \ tised for tonight at the Realm Hall, c Hataitai, will be held on Friday next \ at 8 p.m. ' Mr. E. C. Russell (Independent, Wellington East), St. Giles Hall, Kilbirnie J Crescent, tonight, at 8. ( Mr. W. A. Veitch (National, Welling- ; ton Suburbs), Prosser Hall, Porirua, to- ' night, 8; tomorrow, Kaiwarra School, ! 8 p.m. } Mr. C. M. Bowden (National, Wei- ' ling'ton West), Ridgway Street School, ' Mornington, tonight, 8; tomorrow, i Training College, Kelburn, 8 p.m. • Mr N. P. Croft (National, Hutt), Hutt Central Infant School, tonight, 8; tomorrow, Waiwhetu Schoolroom, Wai- 1 whetu, 8 p.m. ' Mr. T. C. A. Hislop (National, Wei- 1 lington North), Methodist Hall, Webb '. Street, tonight, 8; tomorrow, ladies' 1 meeting, upstairs lounge, Y.W.C.A., 2.30 ■ p.m., St. Francis Hall, Hill St., 8 p.m. i Mr. E. R. Toop (National, Wellington South), Moore's Tearooms, Happy Valley, Thursday, 8 p.m. Mr. L. T. Jacobsen (National, Wei- • lington East), Eve's Tearooms, Melrose, tonight, at 8; tomorrow, Worser Bay School, 8 p.m. : Mr. B. V. Cooksley (National, O*tki), ( Prosser's Hall, Porirua, tonight, fc tomorrow, Pahautanui State Schow, o . p.m, J