PRE-SESSIONAL.

Evening Star, Issue 14625, 22 July 1911, Page 4

PRE-SESSIONAL.

MR J. F. ARNOLD, M.P. Mr J. F. Arnold, M.P. for Dunedin. addressed the clectois in the Early Settlers' Hall last night, a fairly largo number of ladies and ctntlemen taking the opportunity of hearing his pre-sessional comments The Mayor (Mr Burnett) presided. Mr Arnold, who was received with applause, said that his constituents, as His Worship had said, were familiar with the speaker, and not only with the speaker, hut with the views that he held, and it was difficult, therefore, to say anything new. The financial position of the Doj minion had been placed before them, and | the legislation passed last session had been made familiar to tham, so it was not necessary that ho should say ranch about those things. But the political activity that was taking place throimhout the whole British Empire and Continental countries mr.de the political situation most interesting. In Great Britain, as they knew, there had ben a forward movement thathad not previously been t!iou_ht of. They had had Mr Lloyd George's Budget before them, and it had been a revolution in the thought of the Old Country, and in America, Germany, and the Australasian colonies, and even Mexico, there had been a forward movement. He did not know I whether his hearers had thought of the I position, but they were continually being told that there were two parties' in the present Parliament of New Zealand. He was of opinion that there were —Three Parties.— There was, of course, the Conservative party, led by Mr Massey. In addition there was the Government party, supporters of the present Administration, and in that pa; ty there was a third party—the party composed of from 19 to 26 Radical members, who, if thoy would allow him to say so, were the life of the Government party, and were responsible for tho greater proportion of the progressive lfgislation placed on the Statute Book of Now Zealand. Tho Conservative party was —A Party of the Past, — a party barking at the wheels of progress, and in that way doing a certain amount of good, inasmuch as they pointed to the progress that was being made by the Dominion. Ho looked back to 1831, when people were leaving New Zealand in thousands. Hundreds in every centre were looking for the right to work. Now, immediately that old Conservative party was removed from power we found this: that in four years there was a decrease in emigration of 17,789 persons, and that . was caurcd by the repeal of the then property tax—a tax that was levied upon industry, inasmuch as it affected all improvements The Liberal Administration immediately removed that tax from the Statute Book, and imposed instead a lar.d and interne tax, and in consequence, he considered, I —A Period of Prosperity— ! commenced. He had a few figures show- \ ing the change that had taken place : ' 1891. 1909. ! White population ... 634,068 982.926 ! Exports— { Wool (lbs) 106,187.1'4 189,683.703 i Grain (bshls) ... 5,877.059 6 951.926 1 Frozen mat (cwt) 1,000,3J7 Butter lewt] ... 39,430 321,103 Cheese (cwt) ... 39,770 400,607 j Total exports of N.Z. produce £9,400,094519,462,936' Total imports ... £6,503,849315,674,719 Coal output (tons) 668,794 1,911,247 Government railways imiles open) ... 1,869 2,717 Railway receipts, id spite of great reduction in charges £1.115.432 £3.249,790 Bank deposits ... 12.796.0d8 21,995, b°.l Bank assets 16.814,518 2V937.2-5 Bank liabilities ... 13,820,458 23,728,326 Savings bank depositors 126.836 408,770 Savings bank deposits £3,406 ; 949£14,065,410 From 1870 to 1888, inclusive, the excess of imports over exports was £12,000,000. From 1889 to 1910, inclusive, there was a surplus of exports over imports of over £61,500,000. That was sufficient to show, he thought, that this Dominion would never go back to the old Tory administration. —Opposition Criticism.— Having referred to the use of the Opposition as a party to criticise the Government's mcthe-j of dealing with political matters, and having g<jn:.- e-cn so far as to express no objection to the placing of a cum on the Estimates to defray the expenses of the Leader of the Opposition when he wont through the country to criticise tho Adniir.isuaticu, Mr Arnold stipulated that the criticism should be fair. He proceeded to deal with criticisms which were not fair, beginning with the outcry about the Representation Commissioners He said that everybody knew r hat these Conunist-ioners were appointed to divide the Dominion to jjive 'air reproscntation to every part, and tnat they wue .ippointed for lite to make thorn independent of Ministerial control. It was nevertheless t;.e fact that before they were appointed the cry had been raised that the- Government, through these ir.depenuent Commissioners, were going to '"rig'' the boundaries. It was said that en the West Coast of the i-outh Island they were going to work it so as to put out the present Speaker of Parliament. Why, anybody wuo knew was aware that it war, impossible to do away with 0.. Eot the jeats on the West Ccast. And to snow how little truth there was in the statement, within a lew weeks ox its utterance the caoie announced that the Speaker had been knighted, and everyone knew that these honots came at the recommendation oi tho Government of New /.ealund.

Then tut-re was tha matter of the Legislative Council. Personally, if he had his way he wc-uid aboiish the Chamber to-mor-row, for he held no time ior Second Chambers. Lut he did say that the present (Jouncil was composed of respectable, intelligent men, who were striving to do the oest they knew lor the people they represented. Oneof the members of the Opposition had said not many nights ago tnat these gentlemen should be in the fossil museum. He had mentioned those who wore " lifers" and those who were appointed for eeven years; and he had reared to tht> former as highly e.-timable and intelligent old gentlemen. Of course ! 'these were the men appointed ior liie by the Tory Government, which the speaker referred* to represented. Dealing with those appointed ior seven years, he had ciarai-ieriyei tm>.. as band slaver to those who had appuiuteii them; men .wio, wanting a new utiii, did what Ih-y wcro told. Now, three of thcee were appo.ntcd from Dunedin, and they were maa respected by everyone. (Applause.) And if his hearers wanted to read debates worth reading thev would find such in some of tho debates which had taken place since these Dunedin members had gone to tho Council. lApplause.) "Again." continued Mr Arnold, "a good deal haii been said about a coalition between the present Parliament and the Op-p,-.j*:tioii. Mr Janes Allen said that the Leader of the Opposition a few years a- o 'o was offered a seat in the present Cabinet, the reason assigned being that the Liberal and Opposition parties might join forces to hVht the Laboi pjrty. And later again Mr Allen said that the Opposition would not do a dirty trick liko that. If th:6 was a few years ago, how was it that the statement was never made while Sir Joceph Ward was in the Dominion to reply to it? But look at the statement. Why should the Prime Minister have offered a seat in the Cabinet? This thing, presumably, i« sxid to have occurred in the last Parliament. . . • In that Parliament tho Conservative party represented 16 members, and the Government party 62 members. 16 it not extraordinary that the man who led 62 members should approach the man who led 16 and oak his co-operation to keep out a non-existent party. Because, previous to the last election the Labor party were practically nii. Peihaps you will say it was to prevent the Laboi- party in the' House from having very much influence. Well, there was a Labor party in the There, weao two gentlemen pledged to a Labor platform—Mr Barclay and myself So that we mvst take it for granted that Mr Massey was invited to join forces to keep those two from doing too much. Seriously, though, does it not seem ridictdous for a leader of a party to make such a statement, and to make it in

srnch a way that it cannot be mot. Within the next fortnight the two men will meet, and the supporters of either party will no doubt demand explanations. But I am satisfied that if such a proposition was made it was not only without the : sanction of the Government party, but against their desiresi" —The Real Work.— Mr Arnold proceeded to deal with the real problems that had to be faced, which might better engage the attention of politicians than general throwing of mud. He pointed out that America, Great Brir tain, and even Australia were groaning under the burden inflicted upon tho people by the introduction of trusts and combines. Voice: "So are we!" Mr Arnold ; " I am glad my friend has said that, because if we are not Buffering at the present*-, time we will bo in a few years, and it would be well to direct our energies upon the problem now." The cost of living and the unemployment question were two other matters referred to as of vital importance. Mr. AxnoJH said that it was a disgrace to stand by and see the evils of an unemployed community gradually growing up, and men anxious to work and begging for work eomn-jllod to stand idle. These, he insisted, were the subjecte that should occupy the attention of all political parties, and not matters and statements such as those he had just dealt with. —The Land.— As far as the Land was concerned, he was a leaseholder —(applause)—purely and simply a leaseholder. The Opposition, they knew, were freeholders. That was the only plank in their platform that was worth lighting for, even from the Opposition point of view. The Government party were neither leaseholders, freeholders, nor anything else as far as the land question was concerned, and about two years ago they introduced a Land Bill that provided for the sale of the people's estate; but the little party in the Liberal Administration that he had referred to blocked that Bill and prevonted it from getting upon the statute Book. What was proposed by the Government now he did not know, but the Opposition proposed that lands under the l.i.p. system should be sold to those occupying them—not at the value of the land at the present time, but at the original value. The present A«Lministration they knew h:id set aside, under pressure of the small section of Progressives. 11,000.C00 acres for education and old age pensions. If there were two things that needed protecting they were our education scheme and our old age pensions scheme—(applause)— and it was one of the finest things ever done to put aside this endowment so that whatever happened to the finances of the Dominion there would be money from this land for these two objects. B-ut the Opposition said that they would sell these endowments, that they' believed in the freehold, and that was one of the things they would do if put in power. But, of course, they never would be. If the man who had a lease under the l.i.p. system was entitled to the freehold, then, to be consistent, the man with municipal endowments should be allowed the freehold, and the man who leased hind from the private owner should he allowed to buy the freehold. (Applause.) But the Conservative party would not do that. They said that municipal endowments must be held, and that the private mnn's lind mn«t be held Why? Because th~ interests of one side of the community and the interests of the misses of the people were on different sides. (Applause.) With recrard to native land, he held that it should be held by the Natives themselves for their own use until such time -'.s the native race is considerably diminished, and that it should become the property of the Crown, not of the individual; nevertheless, steps should be taken to see that the whole of the native land is utilised. —Defence.— In 1899 he was, he thowrht, the only candidate standiner for Parliament in the whole of New Zealand who made compulsory military training a plank in his platform. (Shame!) He said it was not a shame. He said it was a right to do. They had boys growing up, and if they were goinig to fight their life's battle amongst men ft was necessary that t-r. ey should have 'physical drill. They micht never have to shot their fellowmen, but it was better that they should shoot a man who, v.-.-s their eriemy than that they should hive to shoot their own friends. Wars h-d til-en place when men, iv.ther than leave their loved ores to beeome bend p'aves or worse, had to shoot their wives --•id damrhters, and he said it was ten better that every boy ! should be drilled to protect his own loved ones. (Applause.)

—General.— The Government were takina up the stand that population should precede communication. It was known what had been done in Canada, where private companies had constructed railways ric'ht across the Continent, and the. railways had become pava.blc almost as «oon as they hnd been constructed. The Otago Central line had been completed up to a certain point, and then it was to be left for a time until the North T«]and Trunk lino should be finished ; but the Otago Central had never been completed, and unless the country made progress the City could not, live. The railways of the Dominion would have to be brought to completion within a few years from date if the interior was to be matured and opened up. And if the railway system was to he complete it was absolutely neees sary that the ferry service between Lyttelton and Wellington should be made part of that system, and that the stenmens should be the property of the Government. (Applause.) In addition, the Government must recosniise the petition in regard to the, State coal mine, opened for the purpose of supplying the people with coal at a reasonable price. It was necessary that the State should have its own colliers, and that the coal should be bronjdit from the mine? Dy the Government's own colliers. (Hear, hear.) —Questions. — In answer to questions, Mr Arnold eaid that he was in favor of a thorough inquiry into the whole 6vstem of education by tha Education Committje of Parliament or by a Commission; that he had never been asked to ioin the New Zealand Labor party ; that he was in favor of exempting volunteers of three years' service from military training; that he would support the Government as long as they brought down progressive measures, and if the carrvinsr of a no confidence motion meant putting the Tcrv party in power; that he wotild sup port any proposition to allow necessaries of life in the way of foodstuffs to come in freo —Vote of Confidence Mr W. Husband moved, and Vr D C. Cameron, sen., seconded—"That this meetins thank Mr Arnold heartily for his very able address, and depire to ■express their confidence in him iifi their representative for this district." Carried without dissent.