FRIENDLY WELCOMES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 302, 19 November 1935, Page 2

FRIENDLY WELCOMES

PREMIER IN THE SOUTH. POLICY VINDICATED. Per Press Association. ' MILTON, Nov. 18. The Prime Minister (Mr Forbes) is receiving very friendly welcomes from the country people in the centres he has visited during his tour of the South Island electorates, and so far all his farmer audiences have given him unanimous votes of thanks and confidence. He motored down to Milton from Dunedin to-day and spoke to an audience of rpore than 500 at Milton, in the Clutha electorate in the evening. He was given a very friendly welcome, and a bouquet was presented to Mrs Forbes. The Prime Minister’s address at Milton, where is' the fourth largest woollen mill in the Dominion, was very much on the lines of others at the earlier meetings of the tour, the main theme being in vindication of the Government’s policy during the recent depression years. During his address he affirmed the desire to encourage local manufacturing industries which could be carried on economically and efficiently. Mr Forbes was listened to attentively by a quiet crowd so large that many had to stand in and outside the big hall. He was often applauded and at the end of his address was given a unanimous vote of thanks and confidence. On the way to Milton Mr Forbes stopped at Momona, on the Taieri Plains, on his first visit to that district and spoke to a crowd of more than one hundred settlers. The audience seemed to appreciate his remark that, in drawing up its programme for coping with the depression, the Government had to rule the word “popularity” out of its vocabulary for the time being and trust to the good sense of the people of New Zealand to back it up. INFLATION DANGER.

Speaking of the promises of tlie other parties, he claimed that for them the sky was the limit and the only thing they did not say was where they were going to get the money to meet their proposals. They were not going to borrow and not going to add taxation, so it seemed that the only way they could meet their promises would be by inflation, but one of the most dangerous things the country could do was to start en an inflationary policy to provide money for something that the country was unable to afford out of its ordinary resources. Germany offered a tragic example. Mr Forbes maintained that inflation meant depreciation and that all the savings of the people would go. Great' Britain had 6tuck to tried paths and was again the leading nation in the world.

Mr Forbes received a vote of thanks and confidence, which was carried unanimously. ' He greatly pleased a number of school children who had listened to his address by speaking for a while to them. Mr Forbes also made an important statement for the Taieri people, in which be gave an assurance that he would recommend Cabinet to favourably consider proposals for the alleviation of the heavy burden of drainage taxation and commitments resting on the shoulders of many settlers there. The Prime Minister lunched at Milton, where he was met by the retiring member (Mr MeSkimming) and a number of prominent people in the district. Later in the afternoon he motored to Waitahuna, a, farming settlement, where he addressed a crowd of more than 150 and again received the friendliest reception and a \-ote of thanks and confidence. There were cheers for Mr Forbes. Mrs Forbes, Mr MeSkimming, and the new Nationalist candidate, Mr J. A. Roy. The Prime Minister was loudly cheered when defending the decision of the Government about the exchange. He said the criticism about that decision amounted to the greatest storm he remembered in politics. Mr Forbes paid a warm tribute to Mr MeSkimming for his work during the time he had represented Clutha. A vote of confidence was carried unanimously.

Mr Forbes is having an exceptionally busy tour. He stopped the night at Milton and will leave to-morrow (Tuesday) morning on a journey to Gore, where he is to give a public address in the evening. On the journey he will speak at Balchitha in the morning and Owaka and Clinton in the afternoon. On Wednesday he will leave Gore for Invercargill and on the way will speak at Kelso, Tapanui, Mataura, Wyndham, and Edendale, and will speak at Invercargill in the evening. On Thursday morning he will leave Invercargill by train for his return to his own electorate (Hurunui) to speak at Rangiora on Thursday night.

The rest of the programme includes address at Ashburton, Woodend, Leeston, and Kaiapoi.