SOCIAL JUSTICE.

Mataura Ensign, 13 May 1912, Page 6

SOCIAL JUSTICE.

THE UNITED LABOR PARTY. HON. G. FOWLDS' ADDRESS. Hon. George Fowlds addressed a wellattended meeting at the Gore Town Hall on Saturday evening in support of the aims and objects of the newlyformed United Labor Party. The Mayor (Mr D. L. Poppelwell) occupied the chair, and in introducing Mr Fowlds said there was no doubt that at the present time and for some time in the future politics would he a highly controversial subject and the platform of the Labor Party would bo placed before the electors of New Zealand in many aspects. All sides of the question should be heard and considered. .He was satiscd that Mr Fowlds was one competent to speak on this subject and that lie could give a proper exposition of the party's ideals. Mr Fowlds, who was cordially received, said that as the Mayor had indicated the subject of his address was likely to be discussed for some time to come. They had arrived at an interesting stiy;e in the political-history of New. Zealand. In that respect they did not' differ from what was going on in near-j ly all civilised countries. As an example he referred to tho Chinese Em-' pire, which had within the last few I months awakened and had taken a new t departure in its affairs. He expected that they would soon hear of marvellous changes tlr.ro—one had only to reflect on the case of the Japanese, who had so readily absorbed and applied the principles of our civilisation. As they knew, changes were taking place in the Motherland; where there was an excess I of industrial strife and struggle, bring-1 ing misery and suffering to many. Within the last few years tremendous: si-rides had been made in the political] life of the. Old Country. The speaker went on to refer to that epoch-making i event. Hon. D. Lloyd George's Budget, :i'Ml tho elimination of the .veto of the] House of Lords. In America, with its newer civilisation, there was the same unrest. In that country in a lifetime there hod been a development which had produced a much wider gulf between the workers and the employers than in the case of the older countries. In New Zealand the equality of the social life of tho people was of a higher degree than probably in any other country; but it must be remembered that though wo were a young nation we had with us the same customs and laws that had produced tho glaring inequalities of the older] lands. Unless steps were taken in time to check such forces the same conditions would be reproduced in New Zealand. Mr Fowlds went on to refer to the splendid work that had been done by some of the great men who had passed away: Sir George. Grey, for example.— (Applause.) He was a man who was a long way ahead of his time, though his teachings left a deep impression upon the minds of the people. One of the great things ho was able to do before the close of his political life was to pass the principle of one man, one vote.(Applause.) From the operation of that law alone New Zealand had made tremendous progress, and if the Dominion was not well governed it was the fault of the people themselves. Ever since the time this alteration had been made in the electoral law a Liberal Government had been in office. He had been a member of that Government himself for over five years, but he had felt it his important duty last September to separate himself from the then Ministry of the country. He had a feeling, rightly or wrongly, that instead of the party progressing there was growing a tendency towards reaction. He might have been wrong, but at any rate he was satisfied that progress had not been made in a manner that was right and satisfactory to him. He felt satisfied that the Liberal Government was getting out of touch and out of sympathy with the masses of the people, and lie felt that if he continued very much longer with that party he would be prejudiced in the work he felt he had to do in this country. That was his reason for taking the step he did. Not Progressive. He felt compelled to leave the Government because it was not progressive enough. When a Government had been in office a long time it thought rather much of the wonderful things it had done and not enough of the important things remaining to he done. That had been the position. The Government did not sufficiently recognise the new forces and the need for a new political movement to meet the aspirations of the people. The best friend of the country was not the man who attempted to stem the tide of progress, but the man who would help along the movement for the establishment of social justice. Let all social conditions be brought into harmony with the claims of social justice—this was the aim and object of the United Labor Party of New Zealand. The verdict of the country at the last election was fairly clear and conclusive. He did not mean that the old Tory Party was wanted, hut rather that a more progressive party was required, and that was the United Xabor Party, to gather into one fold all the useful progressive people of New Zealand. His Party's Platform. The speaker referred to the party's conference last Easter in Wellington and to the construction of its platform, which should be carefully studied by the people. The programme was not exactly one he agreed with in its entirety, but he recognised that it was not possible for any individual to formulate a programme to meet the ideals of all people. Still he submitted that the work which the Labor Unity platform proposed was reasonable and rational, and, if it were carried out, would remove the present industrial unrest and improve the conditions of the people as a whole. Now the objective of the platform, which ran equally throughout it, was the promoting of the organisation of all the workers in New Zealand ongaged in all forms of necessary service; the protection of their interests in the providing of regular, rational and remunerative employment, the promoting of good citizenship and of increased efficiency, and the creation of solid political power by the workers in their own behalf. This power would also boused in negotiations with the employers, in

IJtflifli&.ft «#».•»+•;»■> ■ the courts, in municipal, county and parliamentary matters, in international relatons, and s if need be, in industrial revolt, made when every other method had been tried to secure reform and justice before finally resorting to force. In regard to representation the United Labor Party favorod proportional representation, and tho party was not alone in its approval of this system, for tho Leader of the Opposition, when speaking in his then electorate (Grey Lynn) before the recent election, had declared himself in favor of it. With the forces at present working for it there was some prospect at an early date of getting this system into vogue; and surely nothing could be more reasonable, for the principle of proportional representation was a most rational one. Other planks of the party were the initiative, referendum and recall on proper petition, and by bare majority; the abolition of tho country quota in determining parliamentary representation; that the parliamentary franchise should apply to the election of all local bodies and to all jocal polls; the restoration of lull political rights ti ail pmlic employee?:; and the right of the people to c-'i.-vw a 1) questions .submitted on a bare ii.aj.-.'iy vote. The platform in lc/.ir.l to land provided for a system which should bring into tho most productive use, either by individual unde.-cikincs or ■>>' public enterprise, all natural resources, should make absentee oivn.nv'iip -ind private monopoly in land nnpossib';', should secure to the landlord all the values created by him and those on,y (all such values to bo exempt from 'ill taxation), and should secure to Ihc public in an annual tax all values created by tho public. Tho party also favored tho establishment of a K ate bank with the sole right of note issue. In industrial matters the platform advocated legislation which should prevent tho application of the Osborne judgment in New Zealand; the establishment by law of a national minimum wage; legislation which would secure a weekly day of rest, a compulsory Saturday half-holiday in six-day-week industries, and a 44-hour week; and the settlement of industrial disputes on the linos of legally-established agreements and awards by methods of conciliation ami arbitration. Tho endowment of motherhood was also provided for, pensions for widows, orphans, tho blind and the helpless, State medical aid and hospital care in all cases of illness. Among tho remaining planks in the platform were increased taxation of land values, tho revenue so raised to be used to reduce the cost of living by the reduction of Customs taxes on the necessaries of lifo not produced in New Zealand, and by tho reduction of railway fares and freights; a graduated income tax on scientific principles, with a super-tax on unearned incomes. A Plea for Unity. Mr Fowlds, continuing, said he recognised that there were some items in that, programme that some of his audience might object to and other things not mentioned that they held should be there. He wanted, however, to make a plea for unity. All claims would bo considered in due course when tho platform was considered, but all should lend their co-operation in getting those portions of tho platform enumerated which were most essential to the needs of the people to-day put through. Progress] would surely follow. Ho believed that the Liberal Party in New Zealand had ! exhausted itself—had fallen into decay, —and the time was not far distant when it must dissolve and a more progressive party take its place. Mr Fowlds 1 •passed on to refer to the growing need for increased taxation of land values. This district was an agricultural community, and he wanted to enlist the sympathy of the farmers. The Cost of Living. In the towns a good deal was heard about the increased cost of living, and there was no doubt that it had gone up enormously in recent years. However, he was going to place before them a few figures, and when they realised the significance of these they would not wonder that it had gone up. During the past 19 years there wero added to the land values of this country no less than £126,750,000. If they counted the population of New Zealand as 1,000,000 for each of the 19 years—and as a matter of fact the total population was not much over half a million for a portion of tho time—the people had created £6 10s each per annum, or £32 10s per family, which was required to make up a gift of £6,664,482. This meant that the working head of every family of five people in New Zealand had to create by his own labor an annual value of £Bl which was handed to the landlords before they receivod anything for themselves. The number of landowners holding less than £SOO worth of unimproved value had increased by 19,973 between 1891 and 1906, and the total amount owned by them had increased from £8.621,360 to £13,088,607, a total of £4,167,247. On tho other hand, the number of landowners holding over £SOO each had increased by 16,545, and the total value of their holdings had increased by £41,337,825. If the same relative positions were maintained up to the present they would find the unearned increment of £126,625,160, apportioned as follows: 93,372 owners with less than £SOO of value each receivod £12,349,415, or an average of £l2B each; while 31,647 owners with £SOO and over received a present from the people of the Dominion of £114,275,745. Ho had analysed very exhaustively the figures regarding the ownership and increase of land values in order to make out a convincing case in regard to his opinion on this question. If they collected Id in the pound on the Government valuation of privately-owned land. say £150,443,687, that would give £626,848 per annum, and if they remitted a similar amount of Customs duty that would enable them to reduce taxation to the extent of 12s Od per head of tho population, which, with wholesale and retail profit on the duty, would mean a remission of 18s 9d per head, or £4 13s 9d per family of, five. Taking the latest returns, they \ would see that 96,372 owners averaged '■ £135 each. At one penny in the pound! they would pay an average of lis 3d each and get. a remission of Customs duty of 93s 9d per family. They would also see from the same return that there were 31,617 owners who averaged £2750 each, which at one penny in the pound would amount to £ll 9s 5d each, -which was certainly in excess of_93s 9d a year that they would receive in Customs remissions.

A Fair Chance for All. In conclusion tho speaker pleaded for a fair chance for all. Tho system of the past had produced inequalities, and every man with a heart to feci must knov.' that tho chances had not been even. "Don't think that others should have got on as well as you," lie continued.; "depend upon it, they have not had tho same chance."—(Applause.) 'Hie prosperous ones of to-day should reflect upon what might happen to their own children and tho struggle for existence they might have. Ho appealed for assistance towards the expenses of the United Labor Party, and in making that appeal lie made it to all classes of the community. A small sacrifice to secure the establishment of social justice was.a little thing considering what it might mean to all.— (Loud applause.) Vote of Thanks. Mr D. McDougall moved a hearty vote of thanks to Mr Fowlds for his very able address. Tho motion was seconded by Mr Alex. McLcod and carried unanimously, the meeting terminating with tho customary compliment to the chair.