THE FIGHT IN WELLINGTON

Maoriland Worker, Volume 10, Issue 447, 1 October 1919, Page 5

THE FIGHT IN WELLINGTON

Wellington East

MIL M.ONTEITK OPENS THE CAMPAIGN

Mr. A. L. Mouteith, (he Labor Candidate for Wellington .EusL opened bis campaign in bio .New Century Hall on Wednesday last. Mr. C. }}.. Chapman presided over a, good audience. Mr. I. I-'ra.ser. M.l.', said the constrt uoney could a Cord to 10.,. Dr. Newman, who iias a, democrat by profession I but always vnlod against demoeraey. Tho most. oui_.tai,Tliuy tiling in politics was that tin. ht; Jieii-e- of thc Labor rally, whu.ii had been regarded as Utopian, were beiug seriously considered and reported <>n lavourably by commissions which had among their members •ot ono representative of Labor. Ho instanced Slat, bunk, Statu shipping, State coal industry—all prupo.-'ls had been advocated by Labor rears *go. Such proposals, however, will not be carried out successfully by people who did not balievo in (hem, but ouly '.y those who had preached and advocated them for many years. Mr. J. M.eCouibs, M.l\ for Lyttelton, also spoke, referring to tbe failure of the Coveriiine.it in not keeping down the cost of living, and urging that war profits should bo the first product of the war that, should be taxed. Mr. M'onteith. said he came before i ho constituency as a plain man and with a sincere desire, and determination to w-ti) fl_e seat for the Labor Tarty.. (Applause.) As to the. Debt, he said the unproductive debt had been .increased by ..47,000,000, and the production of the country had decreased by 10 per cent. He gave figures from the Year Book to demonstrate his argument that there had been no general "go-slow policy on the part of tha workers, and that, whil c the Government was preachi-g "production,''' the public was getting further and further away from the land, and therefore the chances oi production were being reduced to that extent. Dealing with the land question, he contended that they needed people ou the land, atvcl the consequent production as a source of revenue. There was a Land for Settlement I Act on the Statute Book, and he contended that it meant that no landowner would want its valuation, increased until he found that the Covernment wanted to acquire his land. That was brought about by th© fact that the. members of Parliament included so many farmers and land agents aud others interested in the disposal of land. Further, he contended that the Year Books brought out by tl'e Massey Covernment had concealed from the public the facts in regard to the ownership of land. Anyone who knew anything about tiie industrial position knew that there was soon going to be U'lVemployment. Already there were >som« aOO returned soldiers, in AYellington who were unemployed, and they had also to consider tho cases of the widows of the men who had been killed at the front, lie referred to the possible dangers of ; pud. u_fie-cL tliaj, iM_-_J

try in N-ew Znaiand could provide an unemployment donation. Tbafc had been don. in Queensland, oufc the heart of tho New /-aland Government wa s mot in the I'ight place. A., to the cost ci liviug, ho declared that thc cost of yrG.:erics had increased by 55.47 per cent. T-iufc was an absolute scandal, and idi that could Ix. &aid of tho .Board of Tracto was that they were "hoping for the best." (Applause.) _.* ro the shipping question, he said t_« could not underst-uid why the Urn... c 4 ouipauy should have received exceptional treatment; it was .stimy, , ._d tha. when the last troopship arriTcd the. Government would have paid the company approximately J.<.,out),-_0 for thc uso of its vc.sels during the war. He predicted, in conclusion, that Labor would one clay ttiko ever the reins of Government in _\cw Zealand, aud Ihe toouer the bettor. They wanted «• Government with strong principles, aud if they v,vt on to the Treasury benches they would make good. (Applause.)