GENERAL ELECTION

Gisborne Times, Volume LI, Issue 5346, 5 December 1919, Page 5

GENERAL ELECTION

W AIKAREMOANA

GISBORNE ELECTORATE.

MR. LYSNAR AND HIS CRITICS

REPLIES TO SIR JAMES GAIL ROLJj AND HON. W. D. S. MacDONALD.

PROFITEERING CAN BE STOPPED BY THE HOUSE.

NEED FOR MEMBER WITH A

“PUNCH.”

VOTE OF THANKS AND CONFIDENCE AT TE ARAI.

Mi'. W. D. Lysnar addressed a

well attended meeting in the Te Arai Hall last evening. Mr. C. Gibson presided. Mr. Lysnar said tha't they were just about to have a triangular fight, with three candidates, one of whom they did not know much about. He regretted opposing Sir James Carroll, but recognised that someone with a greater “punch” was needed, and more activity. Measures should come first, with party second. He was an Independent, and he wanted it understood that he was independent of both parties, although attempts had been made to class him as a Reformer. He would have no hesitation in supporting Mr. Massey, provided his policy measures were satisfactory. It was only the possibility of .Sir Joseph Ward coalescing with extreme Labor, that made him favor Mr. Massey in that direction. Mr. Massey had stated his position and Sir Joseph Ward had not. THAT 4,000,000 ACRES.

In his Gisborne meeting Mr. Lysnar took up the position that he was not going deal in personal things. The Hon. W. D. S, MacDonald had said that he knew of no man in the House who had done more than Sir James Carroll. Mr. Lysnar’s reply was that the Validation of Titles Act was passed with a double object. The Act had done a considerable amount of good, but twenty-six years was a long while to go back. Sir. James Carroll had not dealt with the masters which he, Mr. Lysnar, had put forward. Sir James Carroll was very perturbed about the statement that there were 4,000,000 acres of virgin bush near this district. Since lie_had questioned that, said Mr. Lysnar, he had made an investigation, and had prepared a list of the blocks which were available, and he thought that it would be found that he was not very far wrong. A great deal of Native land in the direction of RotoI rua was not even surveyed. In the ! Urewera Country, in blocks within ; a radius of 90 miles of Gisborne there I were 474,223 acres in the virgin ! state. At the., back of the Urewera Country there were 679,119 acres, while his whole list represented just about 2,000,000 acres without Coast lands which he could not ascertain. Sir James Carroll, stated the candidate. had said that Mr Lysnar : should have his “head read” for his suggestion about 4,000,000 acres. Sir James Carroll should read, records and he put a list before him to check and criticise. He did not care whether it was three or four millions but he maintained that there was a very large area of land —not Native land—unoccupied. Why had not Sir James Carroll spoken about the land? The Hon. W. D. S. MacDonald had the audacity to say that he (Mr. Lysnar) did not understand its history.’ Mr. Sherratt in his manifesto, ridiculed the idea, that there was this area. He had tried to make out in the manifesto that he presumed Mr. Lysnar referred to all Native land. A great amount was Crown land, and why was it not thrown open for settlement? The Natives of the Urewera had been for years desirous of having something done, and he admitted that thirty years ago the road had been provided to make the Natives-friend-ly. The Natives now wanted rights to do something with the lands. The blame had been put on Mr. Herries, but he knew that Sir James Carroll had held the portfolio, and should have seen that the land was opened up. The Crown had now 350,000 acres in the Urewera, and why was it not opened up? They were opening up lands without roads. Mr. MacDonald had .said that he did not want a man like a broody hen sitting on a stone. Mr Lysnar did not know to whom he referred. THE GENTLE ANNIE QUARRY. Sir James Carroll had referred to the Gentle Annie quarry failing. The tramwav had been put there against his wish. He was in England at the time, and he had cabled to tell them that there was not enough . stone there, and urging that some citizens should take legal action to stop the tramway. That cable was not correctly published, and no action was taken. Yet Sir James Carroll had inferred that he (Mr. Lysnar) had been responsible for the failure.

AN OMISSION,

He wished to clear up a misapprehension of which the other side were making capital. It was in the telegraphic message regarding his meeting at Wairoa. The message said that he had put in mayors and made kings, etc. The word “assisted” had been omitted from the message. He said that he had assisted to put m mayors, etc. Mr. Sherratt had gone in on a pledge to carry out loan proposals. When he got m he was trying to sell the rails and “of course,” said Mr. Lysnar, “we had to chase him out.’* Mr. Sherratt tendered his resignation to the Council but it was not accepted. PROFITEERING CAN BE SETTLED.

There was no doubt that the past efforts of the Governments had not met the requirements of the people. It was admitted that the Coalition Government had failed * It had allowed profiteering to go nn. Neither Sir James Carroll nor Mr. MacDonald had said anything about the profiteering that had been allowed to go on. Sir James Carroll was asked on Wednesday night about solving the question, and he had asked wnether the questioner could say how it was to be done. Mr. Lysnar was m the hall at the time, and he was shocked at the reply. If the question were properly handled by tl e House the question could be settled, and the labor troubles and Bolshevism would he avoided. Lysnar) had said that two-thirds of the proceeds from our produce went to the profiteers. Did Sir James Carroll tell him to get his ‘head read” over that? The legislators were sent there, to try and prevent this • sort of tiling. The Board or Trade failed to prevent it. Mr. Lysnar then dealt with the. Board, or Trade’s action in connection with butter, as on the lines of his Gisborne address. It showed that the retailer in England could ma® od per lb on butter, while the dairy farmer in New Zealand was losing id per lb. The Government requisitioned wool at Is 2£d per lb. The manufacturer in England got it below cost. Tlie price had been dropped to rob the Imperial authorities and the grower dn New Zealand. The English manufacturers had by that means got cheap wool and the best wool was shipped out of New Zealand. That was affecting the townspeople as much as the farmers. Under those prices it cost 3s 7ja to make a yard of woollen material. Yet the Board of Trade allowed the manufacturers to charge up to 40s. In a suit of clothes there were 3£yds of wool, 12s worth, yet a suit cost £8 to £l2. The prices could be re-

j duced, and yet the farmers were entitled to 50 per cent, more than they were getting. The wholesalers of meat in England could make 7d per lb on beef. The farmer in New Zealand sold at 4sd, the Imperial authorities sold to the trade at 1 Home at Is Id, He had made the statement to the Government that the producers in New Zealand were giving to the profiteers no less a sum than £16,000,000 per annum. He had asked Sir James* Allen to check his figures, and, if uecesasry, correct them. Sir James Allen had not questioned the figures, and up to this time the figures* had not been questioned. The figures had been submitted by a deputation from the Farmers’ Union to the Hon. Mr. Guthrie. Mr. Guthrie said that he was not surprised, and. he cabled to Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward, but they did not do anything. He (Mr. Lysnar) had asked them to see that profiteering was stopped for the good of the Empire, for producers and consumers. The position had been forced on to the Government by the combines and trusts, and the Government listened to them before the producers and the consumers.

WOOL COMMANDEER—AND THE LAW.

He had handled his wool himself, and he did so for the good of every other woolgrower in New Zealand and for the benefit of the consumers. Because of this, people had said that he did not respect the law. That was wrong, and he wanted the Government to respect the law, which it had not done under the wool commandeer. He did not agree that the action was legal. He wanted the price of commandeered wool fixed under section 5 of the War Regulations Act by a Judge of the Supreme Court. The Government politely told him that he could keep his wool. After peace was declared, the Government had passed special legislation to give itself power to commandeer produce at any time. It was not a breach of the law to act as he had done, but he wanted the Government to act on the letter and spirit of its own law. The price that the retailers were entitled to charge for woollen manufactures was more than they would be entitled to charge if they paid 20s per lb for raw wool on a pre-war basis. The same ride applied to meat. That showed that there was something wrong. He only regretted that neither the Hon. Mr. MacDonald nor Sir James Carroll had referred to that. HIS PURCHASE OF 9000 ACRES. He had been twitted with his purchase of 9000 acres. He had bought 9000 acres of virgin country that had been open for selection and sale for 25 years. Anyone could have bought the laud. There was at present 22,000 acres of the same block there if anybody wanted it. His object was to go back into the interior and chop down more bush to help extra production. At present there were two parties of surveyors on the block, and if anybody wanted a bush contract in a few days they could take up 6000 acres. That was no sin. su rely!

A voice: Progress*. Air. Lysnar: It is progress, and if lie could get the labor he would undertake to say that the 9000 acres would be cleared in two years. (Applause.) THE PHOSPHATE ISLANDS.

He also referred to the sale of the Nanrau Islands to a London syndicate, which Sir Joseph Ward and Mr. Massey had allowed. sfore phosphates from these islands were required. and he was satisfied that no ther Air. Massey nor Sir Joseph Ward had put the position before the Imperial authorities properly, or the transaction would not have been allowed to go through. AIORE BUSINESS AIETHODS WANTED.

Air. Lysnar also dealt with the .soldier settlement as he had spoken in Gisborne. The widows and children of fallen soldiers should also receive a square deal. There was too much red tape. Alore business methods were required. Other matters arising out of tile war required attention if the country were to prevent the fruits of victory slip back. Commercial industries should be encouraged and protected. There were many tilings which could be produced in New Zealand instead of importing them with high freights. It was an absolute necessity, but it could not* bo carried until Capital and Labor were satisfied. He favored the Victorian method of maintaining arterial roads. All road districts and ridings contributed, but all maintenance costs came out of the Exchequer.

Referring to the Waikaremoana road, he said that with the forming of 16 or 20 miles of road, and the provision of a punt on the' lake, the Grower a country could easily be opened up. It would be an admirable scheme, for punts carrying motor cars were largely used in England on the lakes. About £24,000 had been thrown away on the side of the lake. Hydro-electric schemes were absolutely essential, as it would mean extra production. Electrified ground nad been proved to have increased production of from 40 to 60 per cent. That had been proved in England, America, and Germany. It would cost about £75 to do 25 acres. Hie Waikaremoana scheme shouid be pushed on, as the freezing works in this district would provide enough revenue to pay the cost of interest and sinking fund. FINANCIAL MATTERS.

The leaders of the House had failed with their finance. Sir James Carroll had said that the Gisborne loan raised by Mr. Lysnar was, if looked into, not thg cheapest loan they had ever got. He maintained that it was the cheapest loan. Gisborne enjoyed the advantage of a loan at a rate which the Government had been able to get. Ho had told bn- Thomas MacKenzie that th e Government could raise £20.000,000 at the same rate. When Mr. Lysnar returned to New Zealand he put the proposition in writing to a Cabinet Minister, but nothing had been done. loi Sir James Carrol] to discuss the question in the manner which lie had showed that he did not understand ii 4. ML, Lysnar undertook to say that Gisborne’s security was the cw 6 L °a don - a ? t ba P of anywhere Use. the financial basis of taxation during the war was absolutely unA 1 expenditure should • i°f loans, as it was not ngl,t that we should have to provide the whole of the money fo r the war and the blood at the same time. Sir Joseph Ward had n 0 right to have a surplus of £15,000,000. The taxation before the war was £5 per head, but now it was £lO. Was it any wonder that there was dissatisfac£an7dA non yea + l the . Nation was ■t0,f44,000 more than it was in 191 q The Public Debt Extinction Act pio: vided for loans to be extinguished in /5 years. That meant that £3.700,000 was required for interest' and ■ sinking fund on war expenses With i the . Present year’s surplus ' there 1 would be sufficient to pay the taxawon ror tlio next four years Dealing with native lands', he said that the natives should have the same rights to dispose of property as ■! Europeans. Any lands not occupied i or brought into occupation should be i passed on to someone else but they j should not he allowed to lie idle. If they did not agree, it should h e taken ; compulsorily. He would put the j same taxes on native land as the : European land, when the land nbuti tod on to a formed road or railway. 1 During the election he wanted a j good square fight, so that when the ! contest was over he could shake j hands with Sir James Carroll. (Ap- ! plause.) >