ELECTION CAMPAIGN NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 71, 21 September 1943, Page 6

ELECTION CAMPAIGN NOTES

Personal Explanation.

"I was asked the other night why I! am not in the Army," said Mr. N. P. Croft, National Party candidate for Hutt, at the Eastern Hutt School last night. He did not think there was any necessity for any man to explain that today, but he told his audience that he was grade 3B—unfit for camp or Home Guard duties of any description. He happened to be in the Lines of Communication Company of the Home Guard but he could not go into camp because he had to live on a special diet all the time. His Only Mistake. "The only thing my husband. did | wrong in politics in New Zealand was his failure to form and lead a soldiers' i party in 1925," said Mrs. J. A. Lee at the Town Hall last evening. Mr. Lee, she said, had joined the Labour Party on the day of his return from the last war. Two Alternatives. The alternatives before the country today were, two, said Mr. N. P. Croft, National Party candidate for the Hutt seat, at the Eastern Hutt School last night. The alternatives were the Fraser Government with its ideals of socialisation and nationalisation of the country and the regimentation of its man-power, and a National • Party Government with private enterprise and freedom for the individual. Mr. Croft said that the Fraser Government in its eight years of office had not raised the conditions of the. workers. Today the pay and. working conditions of civil servants were lower than the pay and conditions of workers in private enterprise. A voice: They always were. Mr. Croft said that they should not be. The Government should practice what it preached about raising the standard of living of the people. I

Conscription and Youth.

"If the day has come when you cannot take a party's pledged word, then public life has fallen low in the landtoo low for my liking," said Mrs. J. A. Lee at the Town Hall last night. Why did the > Government refuse to give the people a vote on conscription? she asked. It was wrong to put boys of 18 years of age into camp. The New Zealanders were among the world's best soldiers, but they were not professional soldiers.

A voice: What about the Red Army? They put boys of 18 into the army. Mrs. Lee: Yes, and if the Japanese had come to New Zealand, as the Germans came to Russia, we would have had every man, woman, and child enlisted for service' just as they are in Russia. Undemocratic. Our electoral system was undemocratic when it failed to ascertain the real wishes of the electors, said Mr. A. H. Carman (Independent, Wellington North) last night. Successive Governments had promised a better system than the "first past the post," but having secured power under this method, their opinions changed, and they retained the electoral law as it was. Similarly, the parties used promises to secure power, but did not use power to carry out their promises. The Real Labour Party. "We are the real Labour Party," said Mr. P. Connors last night in reference to the Democratic Labour candidates. The so-called Labour Party was merely the offspring of Nationalists. "Social Disorder." The discoveries of science had largely ruled out the element of chance in the physical sphere, said Mr. A. H. Carman (Independent, Wellington North) at the Trades. Hall last night. Yet, despite its vital concern to every human being, man's natural right to good had become dependent upon whether he possessed money and v/e left it to chance whether he hact the money. We failed to guarantee that the money incomes would be available to purchase the goods. "We have social disorder," said Mr. Carman, "because our social life is based on chance and ignores proved facts." _ Hitting the Children. "You all saw the disclosure by Mr. Holland about the ways of the Price Tribunal," said Mr. J. J. Maher (National, Wairarapa) at Trentham. "A similar thing must have happened with lollies. The grown-ups' chocolates have been increased in price by 30 per cent., but/the children's lollies have been put up 50 per cent.. This was a mean action on the Government's part, since the children it hits hardest are the children of poor people. But, of course, the Labour Party does not worry about children, because they have not got any votes." Abolition of Flogging. Commenting that ths Labour Government had an unenviable record for interfering with the judicial system, Mr. T. C. A. Hislop; National, Wellington North, when speaking at Ghuznee Street last night, said it had abolished capital punishment and flogging. The! latter was imposed only in 'extreme cases. According to the opinion of the Judges and those best able to know, it was a definite deterrent to that bestial type of crime—assaults on women and little children. This type of offence was one of the most repellent in the criminal calendar, and should be dealt with with the utmost vigour and strength of the law. Where Credit is Due. "Anything progressive done by the Labour Party has been done by its Left Wing, declared Mr. P. Connors (Democratic Labour) when addressing a Hutt audience in the Central School last night. That included social security, he added, yet Fraser, Nash, and Co. took ail the credit for it and got it too. Power Alcohol Plant. "If we had a power alcohol plant to use up potatoes when there was a glut how would that strike you?" asked Mr. Douglas Cresswell at Timaru. "We would all get drunk!" was the rejoinder amidst laughter. "On Her Toes." "When a woman is keen on the job —when she is right on her toes —there is no person who will let the truth out as bluntly as she will," said Mr. D. Murdoch, National, Dunedin South, at St. Kilda, referring to Mrs. Dreaver's references to the Public Service. If a private employer spoke of or to an employee in that manner he would be hounded out of the town, and they should vote out of office any Government which would treat its employees in that way. It really meant that if a man had a mind of his own, and did not desire to vote for the Labour Party he would probably get the sack. Mr. Murdoch said he did not think the public servants would stand for that sort of thing. (Applause.) Men of Character. The opinion was expressed by Mr. W. Appleton, National candidate for Wellington Central, when speaking last night at Webb Street Hall, that electors would decide the issue on Saturday on the character and reputation of candidates rather than on glittering promises. If there is one thing that has resulted from this war, said Mr. Appleton, it is the emphasis which has been placed on the necessity for living more in accordance with Christian principles. For this reason he welcomed the active steps being taken by the churches to try and raise the standard of thinking >of our people. There was a great deal of talk about the standard of living, but cultural and spiritual needs were equally important. Fruit Prices. In a criticism of the Internal Marketing Division, Mr. C. G. E. Harker, speaking at New Plymouth, dealt in particular with the regulations affecting the growing and sale of fruit. He knew, he said, of one retailer who had paid £1 4s to the division for a case of lemons for which the grower received 3s lid. The Dominion's crop of apples had fallen from 3,000.000 cases before the war to 2,500,000, he said. Two hundred thousand apple trees had not been replaced, and it was certain that a further decline must take place. "As the war approaches its end," Mr. Harker added, "there will be starving millions in Europe to be fed, and yet we have a Marketing Department and a Government which not only permit, but force, this sort of thing to continue."

Butter Rationing.

While he was all in favour of Britain having more butter, the real reason why butter was going to be rationed in New Zealand was the manpower muddle, an insufficient number of workers being left to carry on the industry, said Mr. P. Connors, Democratic Labour, when speaking in Lower Hutt last night.

"Worth Every Penny."

That he had received much attention from the Press of New Zealand was obvious, said Mr. James Roberts, president of the New Zealand Labour Party, speaking at Sydenham Park, Christchurch, on Sunday. "They have had much to say about my salary," he continued. "Yes, I get it all right, and I pay my taxes, too. Furthermore, I.think I am worth every penny of it." (Laughter and applause.)

"The Uncrowned King.''

"They say that I am the uncrowned king of New Zealand," said Mr. James Roberts, president of the New Zealand Labour Party, at a rally1 organised by the Federation of Labour at Sydenham Park, Christchurch, on Sunday. "Well, you have seen photographs of most of the crowned heads, and I suppose I look as well as most of them. Anyway, if we are going to have a king in New Zealand, why not an Irish one?" ,

Reserve Bank Director.

An advertisement inserted by Mr. Will Appleton in the "Evening Post" on Monday, September 20, names Mr. Mark Silverstone, of Dunedin,- one of the Labour appointees to the directorate of the Reserve Bank, as receiving the sum of £500 a year in respect of that position. Information has been received that Mr. Silverstone since his reappointment in September, 1941, has been performing those services free, and received only his out-of-pocket expenses. When questioned about this matter at his meeting in the Webb Street Methodist Hall last evening. Mr. Appleton said that if this was the position he was prepared to make a correction in the Press.