MR W. S. HASLIN

Evening Star, Issue 18120, 9 November 1922, Page 2

MR W. S. HASLIN

CANDIDATE FOR DUNEDIN CENTRAL. A LIBERAL.

• < ]\jr William 'Stephen Maslin is a candidate who' 1 would do honor to any constituency. Ho represented Rangitata in Parliament during part of Mr Soddons rule, and he is a strong Liberal. In words to that effect Mr Maslin was introduced at the South Dunedin meeting last night by Mr J. Dove, Mayor of St. Hilda. The attendance was rather larger than is usual so far at suburban political meetlnflr Maslin began by stating who ho is and why ho is standing. He lived in riouth U-nr.terbiiTY for many years, and was there identified with almost every local governing body. He had a son farming at Romahapa. To lot this son go t" the war Tie sold out and wont to Roma- : hapa to manage tho_ farm. When the i son returned Mr Maslin made his homo at | •'.ndorsnn Bav, and had lived there two years: but, having nothing to do, felt lihe a fish out of water; so when this election came on ho said “ Here goes, and whether ho was going to win or lose ho . would see it through to the nmhh. ; “ pf/'ORM” A MASQUERADE. | The Reform , Party was masquerading in the garb ,ef Liberalism. He had with him Mr Massey’s programme for tho last fourteen years," and it did not show any ; progress. Ho asked tho pcoplo t*> think back to the inception of the Liberal Party . that had done so much to raise tho status of working men and bring about tho settlement of the country. M measures passed by the .Seddon-M Kenzie- : Ward Government had had to depend j upon the so-called Reform Party, not one 1

oi them would liavo boon carried, though, j from Reform utterances, one might: imagine, if tho fact were not on record, : that that party claimed those measures , as of its own begetting. . ! John M'Kenziea Land for Settlements Bill provided for the compulsory taking: of land if it could'not be acquired for; the State by other means. What attitude , did Mr Massey take towards that d\u i ; Vigorous hostility. It was endangering ■ the sacred rights of tho freeholders. W?™ ( first to last Mr Massey opposed that Bill, . and if he could he would nave prevented it being passed. And Mr Massey raised | his bauds in holy horror at tho thought of borrowing the £250,0C0 authorised for the purpose of that measure the first year. The next great Liberal measure intro- j duced was the Advances to Settlers Bill. Concerning it the present leader of the Reform Party eaid that the borrowing therein proposed would laud the country In difficulties, since it could not pay the interest on the loan, and he voted against tho third reading, though now he would make out that he was always in favor of the Bill. , ~ As showing how tho policy of tne Liberals was justified in the two measures mentioned, bo ('Mr Muslin) statod that they had never cost the taxpayers one shilling in the way of extra taxation, for the persons who benefited by taking up land and getting advances paid rather more than the State 3iad to pay in interest, so, instead of being • a burden to tho State, these progressive measures were rather a help to the finances, directly and indirectly, REFORM BUILT ON RUINS. Tho Reform Party was built on the ruins of what used to be known as the National Association—a body that always stood as a barrier to progress ox anything that would assist tho uplifting of common humanity. Captain Russell,.tho_ leader of tho National Association, lost his seat on a. second ballot, and therefore it could bo well understood why tho Reform R-jj'ty did not like tho second ballot. After Captain Russell lost his seat, Mr Massey, who was the most Liberal man in the association, war placed in front, and the association changed ite name._ But the Ethiopian, cannot change his skin, nor tho leopard his spots, and the natural instincts of tho old-association remained in tho now party. .. Tho Reform Party began with a policy of gross misrepresentation. M’ilh the aid of a section of the Press, it misrepresented everything that tho Liberal larty was doing, accusing that party of rushing the country into "bankruptcy. In time ihoso misrepresentations begun to affect public opinion, and people started to think that there might bo something in what was said, arid perhaps a change would bo beneficial. Thereabouts the Labor. Party seemed to think that the Liberals were not going fast enough, and it began • to set up independently of the pavtv ivbich bad laid the Labor foundations.' The outcome of it all was that in the elections of 1911 the Reform Party gained a. slight majority. LIBERALISM DEFINED. Mr Muslin went on to say That he was once asked at a. public meeting what he meant bv Liberalism. Having no time to think- out a set reply, ho-answered offhand that it was the system of legislation and administration which would make i.or tho maximum too cl of tho many and tho minimum of inconvenience to the few. Liberalism in that interpretation must be in Hie best interests of the workers, and if the workers noted the benefits they had received under the Liberal policy of Sodden and ills colleagues they would realise that to become associated with the Liberal Party wa.s to be’ip themselves a-s well as

tho community at large. One of tlie so-called great reforms of the Reform Phrty was to make the Legislative Council elective. Anyone who dared ounce© that measure was denounced as a Tory. Weil, tlho measure certainly was placed on tho Statute Book, and a Wellington paper described it as a Mimroh of demociracy over autocracy. But the war intervened, and tho putting of the Act into operation was deterred till the war ended. That was done by arrangement when tlie Government was formed. After the dissolution of the National Government tho 'Reform Party had control, and what did A.r A las soy do about the Legislative Council. Ho made the nOT>'Tntrn«nts permanent for seven years from the date of anprintment; lie increased tbo remuneration from P3OO to WASO, with an allowance of £1 nor month for stamps and a- free railway nass. And what was the country getting for it.? In the ’aH session, up to October 11. I be total sitting time of the Umier TFW. -wa* 44 hours 29 minutes. Talk : r.bout going riow! Was there a parallel , to that nnvvhe.ro? He called it a waste , of nubile mo.nev. Tbo country would bo better off without- such a Chamber, for : when ptiv real T,.brcal mcemrc was introduced it. nh.r'trmclod if. But hrev could the Council he , TO t rid of? Members/if j that hodv wynM not- bo expected to sign j tVrf.* (vwn death warrants. Tile onlv j ihing he could think of was to out off thoi>* may: but oven tbit was easier said I ihaii done, because, though the _C h mir.il : co-dd not amend a finance Bill, it could . reject it. , , , ~, A Vnioo : “ "Wlint n-bout ti bAtuo. i QUEER ECONOMY. ' Mr Alnsrey was always preaching eco- ! nomy. How did ho pwietise it? He' increased his own pay to £2.000 the pay of ten Ministers to £1.300 and one to £1 200, and ho raised the pay of members of ’tlie Lower House firm £3OO to £s°-<> , He (Air Marlin] did not say that £SOO ■was excessive, out he did say that the time when the Government was preaching economy was inopportune, for tho raising of “ screws.” Tho pay of the High Commissioner might as well be mentioned also, for nobody else would -mention ft". • £ir .’jas. Allan ‘received £2.000 a. year, £SOO f--- : v -' motor, riding, £SOO for travelling expenses, £1- i f')i- r.) . ; last year 1 £l,lOO for additional furniture—a total of £4,425. , -s RAILWAYS, v . Our railways were not managed as they , ought to be. Instead of consex-ving the j traffic and developing it, the opposite seemed to bo the policy. When Air Ronayne was the manager at £1,200 ho made" the railways pay. ‘ The Boform Party imported Mr Hiley at a salary of £3,000. and , ho made an elaborate report, which had not been acted, on. Now Air AlWilly 'was in -oh at go at a 'salary of.

£3,000, and wo had a falling off in mscongers and goods, but an increase of tho staff from 14,252 to 15,662. { THE PUBLIC DEBT, j Regarding the public, debt, Mr Maslin said it was very While tho position, bad a black side, it was not aa bad as might appear a,t first sight, the debt amounted 1 to £219,054,385, but more j ; than half of it was held in Now Zealand. , The amount 'held in the dominion was £110,847,786; in Australia, £2,287,000 ; m London, £105,919,000. Thus we had nearly five millions more of our public debt in New Zealand than outside. Ho thought it was a very satisfactory position, and was glad our finances were not in such desperate slate as to cause very great anxiety. Against tho debt wo had the land settled 1 under the Land for Settlement Act, over twelve millions in advances to settlers, and over thirty millions in our railways. Notwithstanding our big debt, he thought that with proper administration, thrift, and industry the difficulty would bo entirely surmounted very soon. : LABOR PLATFORM IMPRACTICABLE. | Mr Maslin quoted extracts from ‘Han■sard' giving testimonies from Mr Sedtlon and Mr W. P. Reeves to his work in the House. If he had been known among them he would not have lead these, but they might wonder if his Liberalism was i newly coined. He claimed to have sym- ; pathy with tho wage-earning class, as he ! started work at an early ago himself, and

had always been in some form of labor, either road-making or contracting. He w&s sorry, however ko could not endorse the Labor platform. The Labor Party had made tho greatest mistake of its liio in putting forward a programme that was absolutely impracticable in every detail. Ho had been present at a meeting addressed by Mr MacManus the other evening, and had' heard a great deal about the objective of the Labor Party. . A Voice: Why didn’t you question Mr MacManus? , ' , , Mr Maslin said it would have been decidedly out of place for him to question Mr MacManus. (Applause.) The Labor Party talked about the nationalisation of the means of production and distribution. If they told him how they wore going to cany out that programmo without a bloody revolution—well, then, he didn’t know. First of all, they would have to acquire the whole of the lands of the dominion which were producing now; they must have the sources from winch production arose. Then the nationalising of the means of distribution would lie an enormous—an impossible—task. It meant they would have to takP _ over all the manufacturing industries, big and small. Where were they going to supply the brains from to run all these mullilarious concerns? They would require experts, men with business training, to run tho manufactures concerned. Men would be required at a moment’s notice to fill these places. He supposed they admitted that Mr Savage knew something about the Labor platform. Mr Savage had said that the land of tho working farmer would be commandeered, that his interest in it would bo paid to the Labor Government as rent, and that all he could claim would be the improvements he had made. Mr Savage had been asked iL that system applied to _ the cities and towns as well, and ho replied l in the affirmative. Would anyone like that to apply to the freehold of his. section? All he could claim 1 would be the superstructure he had erected upon it. It was nothing less than confiscation, to be applied to the towns as well as to the country. What was wanted in this country w.as the opportunity being given to every man to better his position by reason of his thrift and 1 energy. (Applause.) LAND POLICY". Quo of the most important planks of any party wa.s its laud policy. The laud policy of the party in power to-day was a complicated one, and did not follow _lho lines laid down by the late John MTvcnzio or tire Liberal Party. What was wanted to-day more 'than anything else was closer settlement. Let the land Ire subdivided into reasonable areas and sold to the public at reasonable prices. Up at Corstorphinc, near- Oaverelium, the Government had built a dozen houses, which ho called “white elephants,’’ at a cost of £I,OOO qpiccc. Would it not have been better,, say, for that £IO,OOO to have_ been spent upon small holdings on the Taicri? ENCOURAGE LOCAL INDUSTRIES. Tiro candidate was of the opinion that some encouragement should ho given to our local industries. If this were done there would be less unemployment. Companies starting were liable to tho 5s 9d income tax. This deterred a great many from putting money together in to start any manufacturing business in New Zealand at the present time. His solution, was that, any company starting a nevv industry and providing a certain minimum of employment at a reasonable wage should not be subject to income tax until it bad paid sor 6 per cent. An industry could not' be started without capital. They heard a great deal from the Labor Party about Capitalism, but what would wo do without it? hlr Savage had said that tho Labor Party would use Cue £40,000,000 in the Post Office Savings Bank to extinguish the mortgages in the country, as that money was of no use. That money, however, was of use, and was lent out at interest with the exception of a email ro-

serve. OTHER VIEWS. Further statements by Mr Martin were that ho was primarily a leaseholder and was prepared to let the worker get his section and establish his little homo, with the possibility of making the property his own. But when it came to considerable areas of land it was a different matter. He was not in favor of breaking up those areas and giving them as freeholds. Neither were the people on the land. Ho was also strenuously opposed to parting with the national endowments. (Applause.) Seventy per cent, of the income from the endowments went to education expenditure, and 30 per cent, towards old age pensions. The value of (ho national endowment was increasing, and they .should conserve it, if not for themselves, for those coming after. Ho war, also a believer - in the elective executive in Parliament, so that the country could get a truly representative fJoverntnent. Before answering questions he would state that lie was a Prohibitionist, and had always been one. It was a non-political question, but it had .political basis. H Prohibition were carried its success or failure would depend upon the way the Government in power administered the law. QUESTIONS. In reply to questions, Mr Martin said he stood as an out-and-out Liberal and was not the candidate of the Liberal-Labor Party led by Mr Wilforcl. Other questions were asked and answered, after which, on the motion of Mr H. Drees, Mr Martin was accorded a hearty vote of thanks for his address.