A HAPPY TOUR.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVIII, Issue 10733, 2 November 1928, Page 5

A HAPPY TOUR.

HON K. S. WILLIAMS AT MAKARAKA. i’OLLTICAL SENTIMENTS WARMLY APPROVED. UNANIMOUS VOTE OF CONFIDENCE. Warmest, enthusiasm and wholehearted approval of the sentiments expressed were displayed by a gathering of about ICO in the Mata-tyhoro-Makaraka Hall last evening when the Minister for Public Works, the Hon. K. S. Williams, continued his campaign for the Bay of Plenty seat. Frequent bursts of applause punctuated the Minister’s address and, at its conclusion, lie was accorded an unanimous vote of thanks and confidence, carried by acclamation. Mr D. Bell was in the chair and introduced Mr Williams in a short speech, pointing out that this was hardly necessary as all must know the candidate who, from bis position as Minister, had been very much before the public. Mr Williams, who was greeted with a great burst of applause,' opened with the explanation that anything he might say against his opponent was not, in any ways, petsonal. It was simply a matter of different policies in conflict, and that was how it should always be in politics, with any personalities omitted completely. Except in the matter of policy, the speaker stated, he was in corded a unanimous vote of thanks the House, and they wore almost all his very good friends. The speaker then went on to criticise Labor’s plan of a State Bank, on the lines of his previous addressee adding that that institution in Australia. though held up as an example of the effectiveness of the system, only did about G per cent, of the banking business of the Commoriwealtn.

REFORM’S HELP IN THE HOUSING PROBLEM.

Referring to the work of the State Advances Department, Mr Williams stated that the administration of this Government Department had advanced considerably under Reform and that the workers had benefitted from it far more than ever before. Advances for building homes had nowbeen increased up to So per cent. The loans- made by the Reform Government had cased the housing problem' in the Dominion to ’a great degree and there were few places in the country, now, where the shortage of houses for the workers was seriously felt. GUOD POSITION OF DOMINION’S CREDIT. After touching on the national debt in terms of liis previous addresses, flic Minister pointed out that, on March 81 last, the total debt was £‘251,000,00(1. Of tliis, £72,000,000 comprised war debt and the remaining £179,000,000 ordinary debt. Reform had made every effort to reduce the former debt, for that was costing the taxpayer, in interest, more than the ordinary debt, despite the fact that the latter was nearly two and a-lialf times the amount of the other. This was explained by the fact that much of the ordinary debt was interest-bearing, whereas the war debt was all “deadweight.’’ Of the total debts, £139,000,000 was held in England, £4,000,000 in Australia, and £107,000,00(1 in New Zealand, so that it was apparent that a large portion of<the money, though owed bv tho country, was still circulating within it. Mr Williams then quoted extracts from Home papers, all of which commented in glmving terms on the solidity of the Dominion’s credit and the excellent Security offered for the loan recently sought in the Old Country when the interest rate of 5 per cent, was broken for t|ie first time lor a long period.—(Applause.) Credit was all-important-to ' the Dominion, for we still had to borrow to develop our resources to. the full, and lhc extracts from papers read b.v him were sound testimony to the good financial management of the Reform Government, a' fact which the electors should fully consider before they even thought of casting their votes for other than Reform. RE IVORM AND THE PENSIONS ACT.

The Minister also pointed out how the Pensions Act had boon developed under the. Reform Government. The pension rate had been increased from LOs to' 17s <3d per week, a penshmei was allowed to earn, if si nglc, v.p .1,0 £7B, and, if married, to £l3O per minnm, before any reduction was made in the pension payments, ami tho conditions governing the holding of pensions had been considerably liberalised. A pensioner was now able to hold property to over dC-000 in value without suffering any reduction in the payments to him. This was a very wise provision,, said Mr Williams, for it encouraged peopl.e-.to he thrifty and to make provision for their future by saving up enough to set themselves up in a- small-home without being worried by flic fear of losing their pensions in consequence. —(Applause.) FURTHER RELIEF FOR EXSOLDIERS.

A new problem had lately arisen in connection with returned soldiers, continued Mr „ Williams, and Mr Contes had already communicated with Returned Soldiers Associations throughout the country, asking their, help in this direction. There were many cases where the returned men, though discharged as fit and well, later developed illness or became, prematurely aged, as a result- of their war services. '“Those men need help,” added the 'finister,- “and the Government realises this, so that; before we extend civilian li#ncfits any further, we must make provision for such eases of -returned .men. And it is the Government’s intention to do so.”—{Appl ause -) POSITION OF UNEMPLOYMENT. .Mr. -Williams also • dealt with tlie position of unemployment and defended tho relief rates of pay as at his previous' meetings. "Since May 24, 1926, he said, 14,290 men had been employed on relief works and, of these, 6990 lin'd left of their own accord. The Government had exile ruled nearly £1.009,000 in this relief and had also made provision on the last Estimates for still further relief, immigration had' been blamed for the unemployment position, but a study of figures would show that, even yet, Enough men had not entered the Dominion to make up for the wAr ' wastage'. During the past two years, practically the only immigrants allowed into the Dominion had been eases of separated families or where the man at Home had made all arrangements to come out here before the Government placed an embargo on the admissions. ASSISTANCE FOR’ BACK-BLOCK SETTLERS. The hard times of the_ last few years, continued the Minister, had made it difficult to keep people on the land, particularly those settlers in the bae'kbiocks. With a view to alleviating the lot of these isolated sections, the Public Works Department- had been very active in pushing on all access roads to tlip properties of settlers so situated; He had aimed all along, said Mr. Williams, at making conditions easier for these people and, two years ago, on finding such works handicapped hv the small allocation of money available for them, he had secured a special grant of £50.000. over and above the

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