HOLLAND’S TOUR.

Grey River Argus, 3 November 1928, Page 6

HOLLAND’S TOUR.

Crowded Meetings. REPLY TO COATES. HAMILTON November 2. Mr 11. K. Holland' Leader of the Labour Party. addressed a crowded meeting at the Frankton Town Hall toj night. He was greeted with cheers. Mr Holland went briefly over Labour’s policy. He emphasised 'hat Labour’s land policy offered nothing to th c speculative gambler in land values, but it was in the interest of the occupying user of the land. Such was the “Uschold,” against which Reform had offered criticism. He promised that the dental service would be extended so as ’o serve the private as well as tne State schools of the country. Labour would abolish the present boy conscription. It. would support international arbitration, and would honour its signatorate to the Peace Treaty by sending representaetives of New Zealand to the International Labour Conference. He also dealt'with Samoa at length, on the lines of his previous sta ements. Mr Holland condemned the Government’s action in reducing the income tax. especially in abolishing the income tax on the rich farmers, while the country’s war debt burden still remains heavy. This, he. said, meant that the small farmers, the small burners men, and the workers have to pay more in taxes. Speaking at Pukckohe, Mr Coates in referring to his (Mr Holland’s) charge that the Licensing Bill had been brought down after ballot papers had been printed, had said that the charge was untrue. Mr Holland then produced “Hansard” of the date, September 13th. and quoted from the speech of thc Hon Mr McLeod to show that 120,000 Ballot Papers for Absent Voters had been printed, and that these pro vided for a three-issue ballot paper Mr Holland further quo'ed the communication from the Chief Electoral Officer that for the Licensing Poll to be held about the middle of November, it was necessary :he order to print the ballot papers should not be. delayed further than August 9th. ANOTHER CROWDED MEETING. HAMILTON. November 2. La t evening the Leader of the Op position, Mr 11. E. Holland, addressed a crowded meeting at Tuakau. Mr Holland dealt wholly with the land question, and he stated the Labour land policy. A vote of thanks to the speaker and one of confidence in the Labour Party and Mr Holland, as its Leader, was carried without any dissent, the meeting concluding with cheers for Mr Holland. Mr Holland spoke for nearly three hours. His address was entirely free from heckling, and frequently he wa : applauded. A vote of thanks and confidence in Labour was carried by acclamation, there being no dissent. westland”election. PUBLIC SERVANTS’ PAY. MR SEDDON’S ATTITUDE. At his Hokitika meeting on Thursday, Mr T. E. Y. Seddon was asked was he in favour of the salaries of the public servants being adjusted by arbitration. He replied that he was not in favour of it. Another question was whether the candidate was in favour of the members of the Post and Telegraph Department’s staff over the age of 21 years being paid a minimum wage. Mr Seddon did not give a definite reply, but stated that he would look into and consider the question. In the course of his speech, Mr Sea- ( don said that if one took the permanent officers in the public service, excluding administrative officers, Native school teachers, and thc Post and Telegraph officers, it was found that the average salary in 1914 was £187,297. while in 1928 it was £290,952—an average increase of 55.34. Tho public servants of the West Coast for the most part would lik“ their salaries to be half as big again as were the salaries for their positions before tho war. No doubt salaries like Mr Sterling’s will make the average look fine NOTES FOR WOMEN. THE “STAR’S” CASE FOR MR. SEDDON. Returning last night in its editorial to an appeal for women voters to turn Labour down in W stland, the Greymouth “Star” says:—“Women (under Labour) would thus be deprived, for instance, of all the present plea sures of shopping, which would become as thrilling as is now the buying ot a postage stamp. The State would aet thji fashions, and fix the prices. It is a”w’onde- the “Star’’ doies not quote even a single instance from Aus tnalia (where every State is, or has Labour Ministries), of Labour atby Labour Ministers), of Labour attempting to set fashions or to interfere with shopping. Tho only shop ping innovation of Labcjur in Austialia was a couple of years ago when th* Queensland Labour Government fixed a limit of 33 1-3 per .cent .on the profits. of drapery, millinery and other women’s wear. This was at the time the subject of frequent cables published in the New Zealand pr*sß, inducing the Greymouth. Star. Many women these days might welcome better wages for their husbands or themselves with which to shop and mafic their choice more freely, but it is h i a fault 'of thc Labour Party that it is the only Party that wants to increase wages. The Star quotes it as a qualification nn Mr’Seddon’s part that “he is familiar with social amenities and knows the correct procedure when in a lady s drawing room. ’ ’ It says th» Argus sneers at him on that account, which is quite untrue, foi* the Argus has never done so, any mora than it has attempted to assess the value of a candidate s familiarity with ladi-B’ drawing rooms as a means of fighting for the welfare of Westland. Now in order to show just where the Labour Party stands in relation to woimeu’s welfare, let us mention hero just a few planks from, the Labour Party’s platform which are 'of particular interest to womeh, whether the young woman earning her living at some profession or trade, the wife, tho mother, the widow, or th 21 woman who* after many years of service to the > community lo'oks to the State to keep

her in comfnrt for the rest of her life, i y providing a pension sufficient for her nceds t No other party’s platform contains these advantages for womanhood—a few have been filched by th? Reform Party, but m'ust of those when finally passed by the House have been promptly pigeon-holed,. Labour, however, will stand by its platform and when it gains possession of the Government benches,, ah the □ dvantag s contained in tho. pigeonholed laws yill be/ made fully operative forthwith, and the .policies menti'oncd below will become the law of the land in due course; (1) Equal pay for equal work for both sexes in all departm. ,nts of commercial, industrial and. professional employment. (2) Amendment of tho Industrial Conciliation ajud Arbitration Act to bring! domestic workers within its sc'ope (3) Perfect equality between the sexes in all departments of life, will, equal right of the parents to the children. unless proved. to- bo unfit. (4) Thc establishment of a Stat. Housing Department for the purpose of providing better homes for the people, aud at less by the elimination 'of private profit. (5) The national endowment oi motherhood. (6) Nationalisation of the modicum service with free medical, dental, an maternity attention. (7) The establishment of baby clir.ics, at'which the best mcdicai skill and atteui-ion shad be availai-*e fret of cost. (8) Free, secular and compuls'ui'j pfluwy and secondary education and ire.i university education. (9) All school books to be printed, or whe e necessary, imported by the Government, aud supplied free of cus + to the* 'ptipils. (10) The r.'placement, of all military instructi'or. in schools by eo.nstructivo education in humane thought. (11) Froe legal advice. (12) The extension of the pension tn include all widows aud incapacita trd citizens, and an increased rate ot payment (13) The removal of the poiTticiu disabilities of women. AN INJUSTICE TO THE MAYOR (To the Editor.) Sir, — I noticed in to-day’s “Star” a letter signed “Britisher,” referring to M r O’Brien’s meeting, which I attended last Monday. Now. 1 would like to poin: out to the people of Greymouth, and especially “Britisher” (whoever he may be), that politics are politics, but to bandy the name of our worthy Mayor in the political arena is hardly fair play, hence this letter of protest. Apparently “Bri isher” objects to His Worship the Mayor (Mr J. W. Greenslade) alluding *o Mr O’Brien, when introducing that gentleman to the audience over which he presided, as his friend. Mr Greenslade will have the approbation of every de-

cent-minded citizen of this town in replying ’o this puny-minded individual in the way he has done. Whatevei the brand of politics which Mr O’Brien represents might be, I. would point out fo “Britisher” that if he were a civilised being, instead of the insignificant molecule lie must bo, to judge by the insult he conveyed, he would recognise that ’*■ is the duty of Mr Greenslade. as tne chief citizen ot our town, to use common courtesy to anyone who would wish to addre s the citizens on any constitutional subject. As to the remark as to Mr O’Brien being his friend, all I can say is this: It would be a remarkable thing if ’his were not the case, think everyone will admit these two progressive public men have been associated for some time together cleaning up the. Power Board mess, and administering I the affairs of the Borough Council, and in the main, very successfully. The performance put up by the Greymou'h Borough Council, as a whole, in the case of unemployment relief is an object lesson to the rest of New Zealand; and with a tew more men at thc heart of affairs of th e calibre of our worthy Mayor, Mr Greenslade. we could expect a further improvement. I would suggest that if “Bri'isher” were to get in and help the Mayor in the good work he is engaged in. instead of publishing insults, he would be doing something to uphold the traditions of the flag he seems so concerned about.— I am,etc, DISGUSTED CITIZEN. A MOUNTAIN OUT OF A MOLEHILL. Sir.—Wherever it was composed, aa anonymous letter in this evening’s “Evening Star.” shouting, “Will no man stand up for the Empi-e?” is neither more nor less than a despicable effort to drag the noble spirit of loyalty into the miro of politics. This letter, signed “Britisher,” because our Mayor and one of our Borough Councillors were among the speakers at Mr O’Brien’s Greymouth meeting, sends np 1 ’this forlorn wail: “Is Greymouth to be handed over to tho Communists?” For that despicable attempt to prostitute the sentiment of patriotism—the only excuse implied is the trumpery question of a red flag being briefly in evidence at a recent unemployed demonstration at the Band Rotunda. Now, Sir, I ask: Is it not ready decrying this great and glorious British Empire, on which the sun never sets, even to bint that our mighty realm is quaking at its very foundations just because, at an unprecedented meeting of unemployed persons, there fluttered a small piece of Turkey-red cloth for a few brief minutes? In Hyde Park. London, I’ve seen a dozen red flags simultaneously outspread against thc sky. and London is the heart of tho Empire! But God help the Empire. Sir. if it depended for its support and its power upon individuals ready to exploit for party political ends the fine sentiment of patriotism and the worthy name of “Britisher.”—l am, etc., ANOTHER BRITISHER. Greymouth, November 2, 1928. P.S.—I rejoice at Councillor Kent’s remark in reference to the letter mentioned when he said: “The Union Jack is something dearer to me than a thing to be used, for mere political purposes. It is a symbol of something greater, and, as Burns has it, ‘while we sing God Save the King, we won’t forget the people.’ ” —A.B. THE WARD MILLIONS AGAIN. A reference to the party with tho title “United” was made by Mr H. L. Tapley (Reform) at Dunedin North last week. He remarked that thc party’s advertisements said: “United we stand; united we’ll win.” Perhaps H e would offer another motto, “United we stand; united we fall”, and great would be the fall thereof. The walls of Jericho would be nothing to it.