THE PRIME MINISTER

Evening Star, Issue 15478, 28 April 1914, Page 3

THE PRIME MINISTER

FIGHTING SPEECH AT AUCKLAND. The Hon. W. F. Massey delivered a SJitlol "bddreas in the Auckland Town all fact evening, ffa.lt an hour before the advertised time of starting the hall aw crowded. The Mayor (Mr C. P4tr) a resided. Upon the Priine Minister entering the hall the whole audience rose and cheered for some minutes, but at the back rf tb* hall were a few dissentients, and thadr clamor recommenced when the chairman rose and called for three cheers for Sb Massey. The section at the rear then gave cheers for Sir Joseph Ward and hoot* for the Mayor, _ , The Chairman spoke briefly while being i “counted out” by a section of tE« audi- j enoe, but this noise was drowned by the j cheer* and applause when the Prime Minister arose. Further cheers and uproar came when a man at the bach was said he regretted that the hail would only hold 4,000 instead of 0,000. Ho wanted to sav that he had never ret known an Auckland audience unwilling or afraid to hear both sides of a question. Tbev had heard one side from Sir Joseph Ward, and he claimed the. right to put the other side. He quoted Sir Joseph . Ward's remarks about the shortness of money, and agreed that there was a shortness when the Reform party came into power, but Sir Joseph had failed .to add that the Treasury was almost emptv when he left it. 7n addition, the £BOO,OOO deposited in London for emergencies had then been pledged up to the hiH- He reminded his audience that the Liberal Government had made pledges to the people for £750.000 fust before going out, win So all they had in hand to meet the pledges was £17.000. Sir Joseph said that the Reform party had borrowed £12,000.000. Perhaps that was so, but it was necessary to point out that of this £3.000 000 was

borrowed to pav off debts incurred by the Liberal Government— borrowing operations made necessary by tho scandalous mismanagement of his predecessors. (Applause.} Mr Massey dealt at length with finance on similar lines to those observed in his,recent political adresses. There were occasional interruptions and one ejectionbut, on the whole, he continued to receive a very good hearing. Referring to defence. Mr Massev quoted Sir Joseph Ward as saving that at present it cost the Government £BOO.OOO per annum, but that in four years the cost would be 44 millions. At present the Government contributed to the Old Country £IOO,OOO per year, while for sinking fund and interest on the battleship New Zealand they paid between £140,000 and £150,000, making a total of approximately £250.000. The Philomel was shortly to be handed over to New Zealand, and would cost, it was estimated, about £50.000 a year: but this would be paid out of the subsidy j (ready mentioned. Mr Massey went into

details concerning: the breaking of th< 1909 Agreement by the Imperial Govern ment, and said it -was the bounden dutj of the country and the Government, therefore. to do something for themselves. The proposed Bristol cruiser would cost £90.00 C per annum, but as there was still £SO.OCC of the original annual subsidy to come unon, the extra cost would be £40.00 C Ecr annum. All the ships New Zealand uilt would automatically pass under the contrefc of the Imperial authorities in time of war—(applause!—the object being that until the last trump the country should remain under the Union Jack.—(Cheers.) As to the Legislative Council, the speaker said, in reply to Sir Joseph Wards allegation of stuffing, that if the Govern'ment did not get a majority in the Council they would not be able to pass their Bills. The Council Reform Bill was going through. Disturbance was caused at this stage by interrupters, and the Mayor warned people to resume their seats. A Voice: What about the Second Ballot?

Mr MasseyWe pledged ourselves to •repeal it, and we have kept the pledge.— -i Applause.) It was obsolete before it was introduced into the country. A Voice : What about the strike? Mr Massey: We pledged ourselves to give the country industrial peace, and now we have industrial peace from one end of the country to another. This caused a mixed display. Another ■ disturbance occurred, and a" man was ejected. Mr:. Maasey was• then counted -out, and counter cheers were given. Before the speaker , had gone i much further another man was escorted to the door, but was allowed to remain. Mr Massey, alluding to the Second Bal:ot; said that the bargaining and intriguing that went on in connection with it were a disgrace to a civilised country. A Voice: Why didn’t vou give us a substitute? Mr Massey: When you have weeds in your garden you pull them up before planting flowers. (Applause.) Continuing, he gave his version of the stonewall as reported from Whangaiei. When he could find something better than the present system of election he would ask Parliament to put it on the Statute Book. (Laughter and applause.) His party had given the people the freehold policy thev wanted, and had provided that in the case of a settler going on the land without a road every shilling he paid cither as rent, interest, or principle should be paid into a fund for the purpose of making his road. That was not enough, and he intended toast his colleagues to agree to a further provision being made for making roads for settlers. His Government, up to March 21, 1914, had purchased £559.000 worth of land, nearly the whole of which had been surveyed, subdivided, cut. and settled. The money paid by settlers for land in districts where there were roads would be used for purchasing further lands, and provision, too, was being made for the erection of workers’ homes, and he intended to extend his rural workers’ homes scheme to the North Island A Voice: What about James’s letter? Mr Massey stated that these letters were sent on through the post office in the ordinary way, in envelopes, plainly marked, with the name of the Political Reform League on them, and before the letters reached their destination one was stolen. When one envelope reached an Auckland resident it was empty. Two davs later a .letter appeared in one of the public prints in another part of the country. The letter itself was nothing, for every political organisation in the Dominion had used exactly the same tactics. He had some of the Opposition’s letters with him now, and he quoted a letter written by the Liberal organisation, asking the people to get up receptions to Sir Joseph Ward, as a healthy counter-effect to the receptions to Mr Massey in 1911. He characterised the letter written by Sir Joseph Ward at the time of the presentation of the battleship as a far more serious mater, as it muzzled the editors of the Dominion. At the request of a member of the audience Mr Massev read Mr James’s letter in full, which was followed by cheers for both leaders and • the ejection of two men. Referring to the strike, Mr Massev said the Government would act in the'' same " way again under similar circumstances. Prolonged applause.) The Opposition had failed to give the Government the support they should have at the thne, and anyone saying he could settle the strike in two days was only speaking for political purposes. The people would have to choose between the Government and the “Red Feds," because if the Opposition were to get a majority they would be at the mercy of sir or eight Social Democrats, who weald probably be in the next Parliament. Mi Massey concluded hie address at 10.50 by saving that the nest session would be short out important. A resolution tendering thanks to Mr ftfsaev for hfe address and his services'to New Zealand, and for the many reforms introduced by the Government, cordially approving of Iris policy, and expressing eaefidonoo in him and his Government, was 1 carried by an overwhelming majority.