TOUR OF TRIUMPH.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVIII, Issue 10741, 12 November 1928, Page 5

TOUR OF TRIUMPH.

•ENTHUSIASTIC reception at PAHIATUA.

Apaocla.tion >

. ' PAHIATUA, Nov. 10. * ain thdre a - e y large and' representative gathering at the King’s Theatre today to accord Mr Coates a very enthusiastic reception. The Mayor, Jfe, presided. Mrs Coates .Mayoress, Mrs Crewe, were presented by little Miss Siddells with Jouquets. Mr ,G. H. Sykes, M.P., and Mr G. Harold Smith, Reform candidate for Miisterton and Pahiatua, and also Mr S. Bolton, county chairman, Were on the platform. The 1 remier received prolonged applause on entering the hall, and later hearty clieers, and the singing of “For He’s, a Jolly Good Fellow.” He re* ceived a very attentive hearing arid frequent .applause, with a few goodhumored interjections. The Mayor said Mr Coates had visited Pahiatua three times in the last three years, showing tile great importance attached to the district. He acknowledged the assistance given by the Government to the local bodies for the relief of the maintenance of the Manawatu Gorge road. Speaking as an elector, tjie Mayor said he had every confidence in the present Cfoverament.t—(Applause.) Mr Smith, the-Reform candidate, also spoke, and was given an excellent reception. The Premier, in a stirring speech of over an hour, dealt at some length with the unemployment question and the canards of his opponents. Referring to Sir Joseph Ward’s assertion that 30,000 or 40,000 would be unemployed next winter, Mr Coates said he put the statement down to Sir Joseph’s health and nothing else. (Laughter and applause.) No responsible man could, make such an exaggerated statement as that. (Applause.) Mr Coates created laughter by his reference to the “borrow, ,-boom, and burst” borrowing proposals of Sir Joseph, and dealt in a vigorous manner with the Government’s achievements. Mr Coates replied to one or two written questions, and on the motion of Dr. H. Patterson, seconded by Mr W. D. Taylor, a vote of thanks and confidence in the Government, and also in Mr Smith, was carried with enthusiasm, and few dissentents. After lunch Mr Coates left for Eketahunn.

ENTHUSIASTIC SCENES AT MASTER TON. CHEERS AND OVATION. EXTENSION OE LAND SETTLEMENT. GOVERNMENT TO DEVOTE . £1,000,000 A YEAR. (Pr«ss AssociationMASTERTON, Nov. 11. The Municipal Hall was crowded hv upwards of a thousand peon If when the Prime Minister spoke here on Saturday night. Mrs Coates accompanied her husband. Mayor T. Jordan presided. The meeting gave Mr Coates a great receptiori. cheering him when he arrived, and at the end of the proceedings. The applause frequently swelled to an ovation. A small hostile section played a very minor pari in the proceed inns, and most, of the interjections of the evening came from one person. The Premier dealt on the lines of his recent speeches with nianv nsnects of the policy and record of the Government, and the criticisms of its opponents. He contrasted the carefully cons'dered development . programme of the Government with th" vote-cntchiim proposals of its opnonerits. which at best would give a few years of boom conditions, followed hv serious ' unemployment and other troubles. / Mr' Coates said lie thought it would he possible to out down the cost of territorial trailing, but on the other hand ,it would be to spend from £160.000 to £IBO.OOO pc' year on air defence. The Government, said the Premier. honed to be alri-° shortly to increase the present family allowance. Jt was promised- in co-onern-t'on with ho°nital boards to endeavor to improve the working conditions e' - nurses. The Government intended to devote £1,000.000 a year in furtherance of a vigorous extension of land settlement, notably in giyiim opportunities to men of limited means to take up small holdings, and in breaking in land not a.t present available for:use. . Dealing with thd transport piqbIcm, Mr Coatos sa’d the sthirinn must be found in the co-ordination of road and railway services. Tim Government was not out to squash the motor lorry services, but would give the owners of , these services a fair deal. It was proposed to call a conference to deal with the difficulties that the motor lorry interests are up against. Even with the losses that had boon, incurred on soldier tne Prime Minister declared lie was confident that in the end it would be a groat success. He invited tie electors to concentrate their support on a Government that had brought the country through bad times into renewed prosperity. A motion expressing confidence in Mr Coates, in the Government, am. in the Reform candidate for Ma-'-terton, was carried by an overwhelming majoritv. after a hostile amendment moved by the. persistent-inter-lector cf the- owning had been, laughed at, and failed to find a seconder.

MR CCATES IN WA IRA RAPA. GOVERNMENT HAS WITHSTOOD ALL CHARGES. HOW IT HAD HELPED ALLCLASSES. UNITEDS’ FALSE CLAIM AS TO CUSTOMS TARIFF. , (Special To The Times). ' WELLINGTON, Nov. 11.

The keynote of the receptions accorded the. Prime Minister (Mr Coates) in his tour of the Wairarapn on Saturday was that sounded hv Mr W. Simpson, when he moved a vote of thanks and confidence to Mr Coates after the Prime Minister had spoken at Eketahuna.'" ‘.‘He is good, because he is a New Zealander, said Mr Simpson. “We breed champions, here—-footballers, athletes, Limericks and. Gloamings—but never before have we bred a colt like this one. To find his class, look how ho made hacks of them all at last election, Now he has.been m training for three years, lie is clearing his fences well, and he will be home well ahead of the field in the race next Wednesday.” _ The residents and farmers who had crowded ‘in to the hall to hear th@- Prime Minister found in ‘ Mr Simpson’s breezy remarks the words tihev desired for expressing themselveis. and they hurst into a tumult of applause to signify their approval of the motion he had moVed. It was the same wherever Mr Coates went at Pahiatua in the .morning. The Prime Minister was cheered before and after the meeting : and again tfhen he left, for Ekotahuna, after he had been, entertained at lunch bv the residents. Eketahuna 1 sent, him bii his way Nvith' assurance's tbat : tlie voting would be in the Goyernment’s favor, . ... ~ On Wednesday at Mauricevillo. Mr Coates made local history by being

the first Prime Minister to deliver an address there., The halt was to ha've been only one to; allow of '. a handshake with the . farmers,. , . hut they had the hall ready and, : at their solicitation, ? - the ' ’■Prime Minister apoke for about half-an-hour. 1 ' The returned soldiers of the ’Wairarapa took charge of the Prime Minister at Mastertbn arid entertained him at dinner later, occupying special seats,, which they had seepred- for themselves at the public meeting, which was the last big function of the' day.; 'Here they backed'hint ;up when he dealt with some interjectors occupying their favorite' places at, the back of the hall and gave additional volume to the applause with which the motion of thanks and confidence was carried. "I have been trying;to find out what is wrong -with .the Government, but the Opposition-cannot point to one thing,”'the Prime Minister. told Kis audiences. D‘We have withstood all charges against us.. I. defy anyone to point to anything shady. We have been clean straight above board, and we have dealt fearlessly with every situation. To hear some of them talk, one would Chink we had done nothing. What about the Local Government Loans Board, which .has put a check on uneconomic borrowing' by local bodies ! What about the Highways Act and the petrol tax, which have been the means of giving us roads, without adding to the burden of the man on .the land. The motorists have, stood in with us fairly and squarely. Tlie better roads have reduced transportation costs and, with the exception of*.North Auckland, it is now possible to motor all over New Zealand. That could not be done, three years ago.” ‘ The Government had' put . agricultural education on a so ind basis, the Prime Minister continued. It had given .every encouragement to farmers to produce for export. There were the apple export guarantee, the egg guarantee and the pork subsidy. The timely action with regard to pork had ‘ saved that industry from being wrecked. The Scientific Industrial Research Department had been created by the present Government and it was obtaining information which was invaluable to farmers and manufacturers. Better methods of obtaining finance had been provided under the Long-Term Credits Act and the Rural Inter mediate Credits Act. It had been said that all the money that would be available for intermediate credits would be the £400,000 provided In the Government, but only the other day £200,000 worth of the debentures had been sold the counter at no greater cost than that of minting them. The Customs Tchad been revised and placed on a scientific basis for the encourage ment of worth-while local industries and for giving preference to Empire products. The United Party' sail the Customs tariff had been increased. That was false; it had been reduced, and the working man could obtain actual necessities free of duty if they were Empire products.' Taxation had been taken off the man on the bread and butter line and placed on the shoulders of those better able to bear it. <Dn the humanitarian side, the Government had met' all pension charges and, in some cases the pensions had been increased. The vamilv allowance had been introduced; it was small, but regard had to be taken to the state of the times when it was inaugurated. It would bi? increased as "soon as conditions permitted. “There is policy: there is performance.” the Prime'Minister said. “For the next term of office, we have definite proposals in the way of an invalidity pension for the man who becomes bed-ridden through accider' and sickness. We have definite land settlement proposals for the parttime farmer, the rural worker 'and tlie group settler and for settling the clay and pumice lands. Me will deal w'th local body rates. Something must be done, for they are puttin' 1 too high a charge on the land—a charge many times higher than the Government taxation._ Ah our opponents can say is ‘Give us a blah 1, •cheque. Put us in power." 1 have challenged them again and again tr mention one item on tlie programm r of works—hvdro-electric. raiiwavs buildings, etc., .which should lie cm: out. and they have been unable t r specify one. They can’t do it. The United Party say they will reduce the income tax and the customs tax and vet they will pay subsidies tr Industries and build the public work? out of surpluses without Adding , r nenny piece to taxation. That budding of public works out of surpluses is an after-thought. They forgo! about the hydro-electric works. th r schools, telephone and telegraph extensions and public buildings wher th’cv adopted -their £ 10,0-00. 000 railwav scheme and their £60.000 CD scheme for advances, and they havr not yet su’d how tliev are going tr make up the loss of £5 on evert £IOO on that ear-tickling advances plank.” , “T am quite confident as to what will happen on "Wednesday,” M r Coates said. “We will he sent back to nower again as strong as ever.” The Prime Minister will bring his election campaign to an end in and around Auckland City, for which he left to-night.