BULLER CONTEST

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 November 1928, Page 5

BULLER CONTEST

MR. ROBERTSON AT COBDEN REFORM AND FINANCE DELIVERING his final speech in the southern portion of the Buller electorate, Mr. D. M. Robertson, the Reform candidate, was given a most attentive hearing by approximately one hundred electors, at McKahe s Hall, Cobden, last evening. The main feature of his speech was a discussion of the financial position of the Dominion, with particular reference to the proposals of the three chief political parties. He covered many other sections of the Reform Party’s policy, and replied satisfactorily to several interesting questions, finally receiving a hearty vote of thanks.

In his opening remarks, Mr. W. S. Clark (Chairman of the Cobden Town Board)j who presided, stated that, whatever the politics of the speakers who appeared at Cobden, they were guaranteed a fair and impartial heating. His address th£t evening, commenced Mr. Robertson, was the penultimate speech of his campaign. The remarks of the Chairman were appropriate, because they signified what had happened right through his campaign. It had been rather remarkable that, at meetings where the great bulk of his audiences had been absolutely opposed to his politics, he had been received in a most kindly manner. There were three manifestos before the electors, and each had a bearing upon the others. The platform of the Reform Party had been so widely circulated that it was reasonable to expect everybody to be more or less ' familiar with it. It was an extension of the policy enunciated by Mr. Coates thfee years taking into consideration the altered circumstances of the country, jmd its emergence from the. period of depression. The borrowing policy of Mr. Coates and his party had been reduced from £7,000,000. to £5,500,000 per annum. * Sir Joseph Ward had launched an extensive borrowing policy, and admittedly there were many aspects of his platform which coincided materially with that ‘of Mb. Coates. The principal plank of the United Party’s policy whs undoubtedly Sir Joseph Ward’s expressed intention of developing public works, and spending very considerable sums in thdt direction, but designed on . the lines of extensive borrowing. He had reduced the annual amount, after much explanation, to a maximum of £8,000,000 . and a minimum of £6,000,000. He had clearly indicated , that it was his intention to carry on all the development works that had been fostered by the Reform Government, and his extra borrowing policy was in addition to that. Therefore? his an-

nal borrowing must, be at least £12,500,000. The Labour' Party’s manifesto made extensive promises to develop the country upon lines which had never previously been attempted. Mr. Holland was very wise, in that hehad refrained from indicating in any measure where the money was to come from. The speaker left his hearers to consider tho three manifestos, and -Said tho only conclusion they could come to was that Sir Joseph Ward would have to borrow at least £12,500,000 per annum in order to carry out his policy, and the only possible way was to go outside the country for the money. It had been contended by both the Labour and United Parties that the present borrowing policy of the Reform Party was unwarranted. If it was so, the other parties must find other avenues to raise the money they proposed to spend. In the main, there were only four sources of revenue — Customs, land, income, and death duties. The Reform Government had reduced the Customs duty by approximately £250,000, and he contended that, if Sir Joseph Ward and Mr. Holland were both reasonable and fair, heitlief of them would dare to increase the of living by increasing the CiiStoms duty. So far as income tax v/as concerned, he whs bound to agree fir reasonable measure that a steeper Jax could be made possible, but how much extra money would it produce? The number of men in New Zealand With incomes exceeding £lOOO per annum was comparatively small, and the product of ah extra tax would be a mere y DROP IN THE OCEAN. The position regarding the land tax Was even more difficult. The bulk of the men on the lahd were small farmers, and no one could deny, that each

was carrying a burden more than sufficient for his present needs. In fact, many of the. small farmers had been required to leave their holdings. The land tax could not be increased on the small holders, and that left the big ■landholders. Mr. Holland’s criticism of the Government was, in one respect, decidedly erroneous. The Labour leader alleged that the big landholders did not pay income tax. That was perfectly true, but Mr. Holland did not qualify his statement. The big holders paid land tax, at a fixed valuation. It had been proved that they paid 20 per cent, more by way of land tax than they would if they were taxed on incomes. Moreover, they did not-get the benefit of market fliictiiatioiis, but paid just the same amount in lean years as they did in good years. It might be possible to place a bigger burden upon them, but he was very doubtful if the extra money produced would be more than £250,000 net per annum. ■ The death duties were so heavy now that the big estates paid’from 25 to 40 per cent, of the total value. It might be possible to make an increase, but the net result of all the proposed increases in taxes would never pay for the Interest and sinking fund on the Labour and United borrowing policies. The total taxation at present was a shade over £17,000,000 annually, and but of that £12,500,000 were paid in interest and sinking fund. An increase in the borrowing policy to any considerable extent would very materially swell the amount of money to be paid per annum, and the added burden must fall upon the whole country. After weighing the three manifestos, which were all based primarily upon the financial development of the country, it was found that the Reform Party’s policy was designed to carry the country through until the aftereffects of the war and the two financial depressions had cleared themselves lip, so that the Government could then go forward with its financial pro-

posals, and so that an immense burden '.would not be placed upon the country. • GOOD ADMINISTRATION. During the sixteen years of Reform administration in New Zealand, the Government had gone through troublesome periods, but the last five years seemed to be the best for comparative purposes. It was found that the trade balance was on the right side of the ledger, to the extent of £32,000,009 for that period. In 1926, it-was • £10,000,000 on the wrong side, yet in 'tho past'two years it had recovered to the extent of £13,000,000., Despite tho natural productivity of the country, its affairs must have been administered well by the Reform Government to show such a result. Critics of the Government pointed to the fact that the National Debt totalled £251,000,000, but £82,000,000 Of that was directly dtie to the war, and that had now been reduced to £73,000,000. Of tho National Debt, £35,000,000 was invented ih advances to settlers, £10,000,000 in hydro-electric undertakings, and from £46,000,000 to £50,000,000 in the railways. The electors were being told that the country was in the hands of the Jews, but. that was incorrect. No less than £103,000,000 was held within New Zealand, and £4,500,000 in Australia. e Comparisons were drawn by Mr. Robertson between Reform’s record in New Zealand and the Labour record in Queensland, where for the past 13 years endeavours had been made to socialise industry in every direction. It was thought by some people that Queensland was on the high road to an earthly paradise, but the official figures gave that idea the knock-out. They constituted an indictment of Labour administration that could not be overlooked. The only country that had endeavoured to introduce Socialism on

a broad scale was Russia, and the less said about her the better. If Labour were placed on the Treasury Benches jin New Zealand, the electors would tie their hands to the same destiny as Queensland was experiencing. Certainly, there were some very good planks in the Labour platform, but they were impracticable in application. He appealed to the electors of Buller to view the political situation from a national point of view. They could not experiment with the business of the country and expect to get the results that looked so nice on paper when presented by Mr Holland. | Labour’s usehold land policy was not favourably regarded by one small landholder, so far as the speaker could ascertain. It was the common desire of every individual to better himself, and betterment amongst small landholders meant the freehold. Buller was particularly interested in the coal and timber industries, and any disturbance of the overseas markets and the means of production would inevitably result in a crash in every direction. The Government had been criticised for reducing the amount of money available for settlers, blit that had not been done without good reasons. Th 0 world-wide economic depression had also found an outlet in New Zealand, and the Government in its wisdom saw fit to conserve the resources of the country until more favourable conditions ruled for development. The world had now reasonably recovered from the Great War, and it could be seen that the policy of the Government had been logical, The position had now been reached where they could safely go ahead and provide for the betterment of all classes.

THE COAST ROAD. So far as the railways were concerned, he wanted to say straight out that he did not care whether they paid or not, so long as they were administered in the best interests of the country, and assisted in its development. When the railways in the Homeland were not paying, how could people expect the New Zealand railways to pay? How could the Government be blamed, when the people would not utilise the railways to the best advantage, but supported the competitive road transport? The Buller Gorge railway and the Greymouth-Westport coastal road provided an example. The engineers, informed him that the toad would be completed in two years, and it -would then take from the Buller Gorge railway practically all the passenger traffic. The people themselves were really to blame because the railways did not pay. The road, transport problem had been placed upon the jisers Of the roads, and the Highways Board legislation was now producing approximately £ 1,250,000 per anhum, the whole of which was being spent on the roads. Social legislation was also dealt with, and Mr Robertson expressed himself in favour of a minimum oldage pension of £1 per week, to be made universal; the full operation of the family allowance legislation; dental and medical inspection of school children; encouragement of secondary industries; thorough investigation of the coal industry, with a view to establishing secondary industries to deal with small coal and by-products, and at least as much protection for coal ass was given to timber; migration of tlie right type of people to develop secondary industries; full and adequate provision for the employment of immigrants; advancement of public works, to absorb the unemployed. ’ Criticising the wholesale borrowing and. development proposals of Sir Joseph Ward, the speaker pointed out that a great many more men would have to be brought into the country, and, if the railways and Other works were completed, as proposed, in three or four years,’ thousands of men would then be thrown out of work, and the last state 0$ affairs would be worse than the first. Development whs required, but along rational lines. The welfare of the country, and not votecatchifig, should be the main object. Mr Robertsoii was also in favour of more attention being given to primary education, as.against technical education. , Primary education had been to a certain extent sidetracked, and better facilities’ must be provided. Greater care must also be exercised for the future of the teachers, who were not appreciated at their true worth.

So far as defence was concerned, the outlawing of war Was no nearer finality than , it was in 1914, and he favoured New Zealand continuing to bear her share of Empire defence, until disarmament was ah accomplished fact. Ho agreed with the Minister of Defence (Hon. F. J. Rolleston) that the defehce expenditure must be reallocated, to provide for an air force, but he was not prepared to say whether the TetritOtials or the Senior Cadets should be “thrown overboard.” The suggestion that a volunteer force should be organised was an absolute absurdity, and would be a waste of moiiey. Either the Territorials or the Cadets, must go out at an early date, to make way for the air force. Complimentary reference was made to the rural intermediate credits scheme, and Mr Robertson also defended the action of the Government in limiting the amount of interestearning deposits in the Post Oilice Savings Bank. In conclusion, he said that New Zealand could now go ahead, knowing that the future was secure and that there was good financial backing. Provided the electors took a broad view of the difficulties and possibilities of the country, and retained commonsense government on constitutional lines, New Zealand had a very definite future. He appealed to all electors to record their votes, whatever their political opinions might be, and said -he felt confident they would review the position in the way he had indicated. (Applause.)

QUESTIONS. 3 In answer to questions, put by Mr J. Meade, the candidate said that on the liquor question he favoured a twoisstte ballot paper, a 55-45 majority, and at least a siX-years tenure. _ What was required more than anything else was licensing reform. Regarding the C.O.D. system, he said it might be unwise to eiit it Out at present, but he favoured an increase in the charges for handling the parcels, to ensure a reasonable measure of protection for New Zealand traders. So far as a rumour was concerned, to the effect that official Labour was supporting Reform in electorates where there were no Labour candidates, he said ihat he had no knowledge on that subject. In reply to the Chairman (who said ho put the questions on behalf of an absentee), Mr Robertson denied that he had been approached regarding his candidature by any person associated With the Licensed Victuallers’ Association; neither had he received one pennyworth of assistance from the L-V.A. In moving a vote of thanks to the

candidate, Mr Meade said that the ’electors appreciated the Uphill fight jie had made against Mr Holland. The motion was seconded by Mr F. Petherbridge, and carried unanimously. Returning thanks, Mr Robertson said that it had been an exceedingly clean fight, and lie had been told by many Labour riien that they were glad he Had aVbided personalities. He was fully- aware of the calibre of Mr Holland, and the backing behind the Labour leader, but he had hot giVen up hbpe, by any mOahs. fie had had a very successful campaign, add promises df support from many directions in which he least expected it. He could ofily promise that, if elected, he would do his Utmost for the welfare of the Biiller electorate and New Zealand generally. (Applause.) On Mr RObbftsOh’s motion, a vote of thanks was accorded to the Chairman. MRS YOUNG’S “SCOOP.” WELLINGTON, November 13. Mrs Young’s candidature for Wellington Central, already the most conspicuous and most-talked-of event in the local political campaign, has added another novelty to the history of politics in New Zealand. Last night she spoke at the Town Hall, and charged two shillings and one shilling admission. Notwithstanding the weather was bitterly cold and wet, the building was crowded, and so the lady at one stroke obtains sufficient money for her expenses, and sets up a precedent 'no lady ever appears to have thought of before, at any rate in Wellington.

HALF TO CHARITIES. WELLINGTON, November 13. Mrs I 'Young called on the Mayor this morning, and advised him that she proposed to devote half the proceeds of her meeting at the Town Hall, last night, to Wellington charities, to be nominated by him. The Mayor has agreed to nominate the charities in accordance with Mrs Young’s wishes. The amount to be made available is understood to be in the vicinity of £lOO. MR TURLEY HECKLED. Question time at a meeting of Hurunui electors on Friday evening at Woodend, which was addressed by Mr F. L. Turley, unofficial Labour candidate, brought one member ;of the audience promptly to his feet. “I came here to-night for a definite purpose, Mr Turley,” he said. “I attended your meeting at Loburn a fortnight ago, and with another gentleman, asked you some pertinent questions. On at least two occasions since then you have made the statement that two reporters came to your meeting and disturbed it. Further, you declared that they were hoodlums. Now, Mr Turley, I demand that yob retract that statement. Neither my friend nor I is an employee of the Lyttelton Times Company. There Was nothing in our behaviour .or questions that justified your using the term ‘hoodlum.’ Mr Turley: I will not retract that statement. If you are not a reporter, then you must have supplied that report to the paper. It was a tissue of lies. lam not going to stand people coming round to my meetings—probabfr paid by my political opponents —and disturbing them. The questioner: I have told you Mr Turley, that I did not supply the report. The man who did is here reporting the meeting to-night. He was at yOUr meeting the other night and did not say one word, and to-night he has not said one word. I think you should retract. Mr Turley did not answer.

Mr Turley was then asked by the same questioner how he reconciled his statement of . that night regarding the candidature with his statement at Loburn that Jle had not been given official recognition because the executive of the' Party in Wellington had not met. “On that occasion, Mr Turley,” he said, “you said that there would be no doubt about your being Officially recognised. To-night you tell a different tale. You now say that you did not get the nomination because you were iiot nominated by a body affiliated with the Labour Patty.” Mr Turley:' Are you an elector of this district? The questioner: No, but what has that to do with you? Mr Turley: Then I’ll not answer your questions if you are not an elector. JUDGES ATTACKED. “The insurance companies, never mind taking your premium but they do niind paying out,” said Mr F. L. Turley, unofficial Labour candidate at Woodend on Friday night. Mr Turley went on to refer to a recefit West Coast case and said ■ that if Judge Adams’s decision stood then it would not be safe for any inafi in New Zealand to insure. , A voice: Do you suggest that the Judge was not impartial? Mr Turley: I would certainly suggest that there are a lot of judges in this country who are a long way from impartial. I’ve dealt with them pretty freely in my time. A voice: They’ll deal with you later.