WAIPAWA ELECTORATE.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XII, Issue 238, 20 September 1922, Page 2

WAIPAWA ELECTORATE.

LIBERAL RALLY. (Own Correspondent.) Addresses were given in the Municipal Theatre, Waipawa, on Monday night by Mr. R. Masters (Stratford) and Mr. G. W. Forbes (Hurunui). The chair was taken by the Mayor, Mr. H. M. Rathbone. There was a big attendance. Mr, Forbes said that the Liberal party was not satisfied with the way it was represented in the newspapers, and so wished to meet the electors face to face. Before speaking generally, he wished to speak on the disquieting situation as reported in the Near East. He advocated strong measures and agreed with Mr. Massey that the colony is one with him in his desire to help the Empire. Proceeding, he said they had been told that the Liberal party was dead, but he would say that if it was a corpse a lot of attention had been given it. His hearers would agree with him that a strong Opposition was necessary as the watch dog for the public. At present we had a one-man Government. Any business of importance Mr. Massey, had to do. He contended that with six secretaries he would run the country. An instance of the folly of this is the railways. Mr. Massey’s followers followed him blindly during the debate and went into the lobbies without question. There was no independence shown by his followers. Mr. Massey promised many things when he came to office, and one was improved local government, but it was in the same position now as then. The first thing, to the speaker’s mind, was to put the Dominion’s finances in order.. The Government was not facing the position as it should do. The public have had to borrow’ £2,000,000 from the banks to pay their income and land tax. The cost of government in 1913 was £11,000,000, but each year it increased until in 1921 it was £28,000,000. It was amusing for Mr. Massey to adopt Sir John Findlay‘s views of Liberalism as his own. Mr. Massey advocated a reform in methods of voting, but the position was the same to-day as then. The voting at last election was: Liberal and Labour 340,000, Reform 206,000. Where is Mr. Massey’s Liberalism there? The first past the post is perhaps correct where two par ties only are in the field, but the system is not democratic where there are more. The speaker said he was strongly in favour of proportionate representation. The Government should have known that the effect of a large expenditure in any commodity was to push that commodity up in price, anti this had happened as regards the land, but the soldier had suffered and not Mr. Massey. As regards speculation, if an alarm clock was sola at too high a price the Board of Trade got to work, but not the slightest effort was made to prevent speculation in land. Mr Guthrie had asserted in October that the land purchased for the soldiers was worth 50 per cent, more than what was paid for it, but in December the bottom fell out and land values fell. He (the speaker) asserted that more production was necessary and this could best be accomplished by cutting up big estates. MR. R. MASTERS’ ADDRESS. Mr. Masters, in his address, said that they had a good excuse for coming to state the case for the Liberal party. Mr. Massey’s financial and moral support comes from the big man. He was supposed to represent the small farming community, but this is opposed to fact. It has been said that the Massey Government would be again returned, but in nearly all the by-elections of the last two years the Liberals have ousted the Reform party. He asserted that the Reform party did not represent the democrats of the Dominion. As regards duties these were increased on goods bought by workers, but reduced on diamonds. A Housing Department had been set up and during a period of three years houses had been built at a cost of £228,554. The Government was giving £1 19/- a ton more for English cement, than the New Zealand cement, and they are using thousands of tons of it. Dealing with other matters Mr. Masters said:— There should be no occasion for Mr. Clutha, Mackenzie to go round asking for contributions for the blind. The blind should be the special care of the Government. Mr. McVilly gets £3OOO a year and a pension of £2OOO a year and yet not a vote was given on a division for a pension for the blind. The Commonwealth Bank kept the rate down to 6 per cent., whilst the Bank of New Zealand rate was 7 per cent. It was a case of the people running the bank in Australia, but the banks ran the people in this Dominion. The Government are not doing a thing to assist the farmers in the transport of their produce. Mr. Langridge briefly spoke, and endorsed the opinions expressed by the visiting members. Each of the speakers received a good hearing. A heaty vote of thanks was moved by Mr. Wedde, seconded by Mr. Lang, and carried by acclamation.