IN THE CONSTITUENCIES

Maoriland Worker, Volume 12, Issue 301, 6 December 1922, Page 14

IN THE CONSTITUENCIES

WAIMAEINO

The campaign is getting near white heat. We shjall launch another four thousand leaflets in the. last week, making in all, sixteen thousand leatdets> nzany articles, publishea by arrangement in the local papers, and 360 election number of The M[aoriland Worlrer. Mr. L-angstono has done good work and we gratefully acknowledge tho kindness and hospitality shown him during his tour among tho farmers in the back country. Farmers of all varieties of' political persuasion treated our comrade with great consideration. Our boys have shown hospitality in return and we are puzzled to know how a democrat like Mr. McLean could ever stand as a Reformer. Had he stteod as lude-pendent-Liberal-Labour wo would have had to reckon w«t'h an enormous hurdle. We reckon to v/in and if work will-do it, victory is ours.'. Mr. Richards? the candidate for . Hamiiion - was in Qwhango on the 18th instant. We have to aeknow ledge he has done a power of good. He is si particularly sound speaker and. knows political economy thoroughly. He was in Taumarauui on Sunday and has.left the impression' j with us that he will carry the day ; in, Hamilton. May his tribe increase! We hope Ham'i-Uon appreciates kirn as wo do. . I have to say that we look for victory and are sure -of success. Greetings and good wishes from Wat mar-, mo to all Labour Candidates'WXEV--JilllEL'.X, -'Secretary, L.R.C ' - * '* * '"'* Tim usual Friday evening Libom Rally was heid in the King's Theatre (ast night.- The mooting-, which was largely' attended, was addressed by! ■our four candidates, Messrs. Munro/! MacManus. Gilchrist, and Moss.-' Mr. I Moss spoke of .the present. Government's tardiness in helping to-place people on the land. If ike land Is jnof. developed the effect of non-settle-.! i merit reacts on the towns, because j \?<2 per cent of nil wealth conies-from ithn land. The only' way to bring! '•about harmony la the Dominion is to ', jopen up ilie J j Mr. MacManu? crlilcist-fl several of j j the Government's proceedings coal j j importations, railway management,! iete. lie declarc.il that the ,"Welfare"| ! League is simply an appendage of the j ; Reform, and Liberal Parties. He has ja copy of a letter sent to members |of the League,. which shows, that 'there is no fundamental difference I between those two parties, and Hb.at !they are united in their hostility to] Labour. Mr, Gilchrist: contrasted the j !Liberal and Labour platforms i and] ] pointed out that Uig Labour platform] jltad a. materia I basis which, if it could! only be realised, would mean much j for the uplift of humanity. Mr. Munro I asked how much longer the people] were going to allow themselves to be {doped and led by tbe Press or by the pulpit.- They must realise that if-they ! wanted something done they must dolit".for themselves by putting their j pledged members into. Parliament; ! The speakers were thanked for ''heir addresses, and the meeting ! closed with cheers for -Labour. j Tbe candidates are, of course, all ibeing subjected 'to heavy bludgeonjings and irritating attempts at sitleI tracking by the daily papers, one of ] which allegedly supports the liberate jand the other tho. .Reform Party.' ! There is at the present time, however, a very notlceablo tendency to waive these little differences and unite in strenuous endeavours to squash Labour,—F.M.T. * * * *' ! AVON. Mr. D. G. Sullivan and the Rev. J. K. Archer addressed a joint and crowded meeting in the Shirley School on Saturday evening. Mr. Sharp, who presided, said it was a matter of deep pleasure to him to preside over a meeting to be addressed by two such ! well respected and able men as Mr. D. G. Sullivan and Mr. Archer. He wished them both great success at the election. Mr. Sullivan had served the Avon electorate with remarkable success and devotion and Mr, Archer.he felt sure would render a similar service to Christchurch North. Mr. -Sullivan dealt principally with the wages question, and at the conclusion Of the speech/which called forttfa prolonged demonstration of approval from the audience, Mr. Archer said that he i had listened with the greatest pleasj sure to Mr. Sullivan's splendid address

which had helped Mm to see more clearly than ever before the injustice of the Government's legislation. He (Mr. Archer) was disgusted and sick- . eric.d with-the kind-of personal attack - that was being made against Mr. Sullivan by those who wished to destroy • him, and he felt sure that the peo- . pie of A van would prove at the bal lot box how much they resented It. L (Applause.) After Mr. Archer's > speech a Vote of thanks • and confl- . dence in both candidates ■ was carried with acclamation. ;«* * - # • ■ -- H. I], HOTJi'AirD AT COIH>KTSvMr. H. E. Holland, M.P., addressed a very largely-attended meeting . in Cobden—one of the largest over hel6 there—on Friday, November 24, and j was given an ovation at the end of '. his address. A motion of confidence in the Labour Party was carried with loud cheers! Here are - some _■ of the points in Iris speech. .■■ .Proportional. ■ representation would: give representation to- eacli school ofj , thought, accordingto its numerical! I strength, while the initiative and re-1 t ferendum .would make :it , ' possible' for I the people themselves ..to initiate legisi lation, and would at the same time confer on the people the supreme-.pow-er of veto over the enactments of the House. .' - . ' .:■ } At the present time that power of i veto was exercisecTby. some 40 gentle- ! men sitting as nominee members of the Legislative Council, and therefore having no representative capacity. The undemocratic nature of. the nominee method was demonstrated when they remembered that, although Labour polled over 127,000 votes on last occasion, there wasn't a .single representative' of-the Labour-Party in the Council. Labour would abolish the Council, and while resting the power of veto in the people : themselves, would set up a committee of fixe House ito do -the necessary work of revision, fbii't with only re-visionary powers'and' always subject to [he final decision of the Houseitself. 'Referring to Mr. Massey',-? Bill of last session to confer political rights .! upon Public Servants, Mr. Holland explained that the measure did not give the Public Servant political rights— I only provided that" a Public Ser- ; vSnt might stand fox . Parliament if he J first got the consent of his "boss. That j wasn't conferring political 'rights on ! the Public Servants; it was merely ! conferring a i-'ight -of dictatorship ! upon the boss. Unsatisfactory as Mr. Massey's Bill I was it was slaughtered when it re-ach-j cd' the Council, and in view of Mr. i Massey's subsequent attitude when I Questioned by himself, be was oft the opinion- that it had never been intendi3d (hat the proposal should' become J law. Nominee Legislative Councils j bad ever been convenient agencies for 'reactionary Governments. It often ■| occurred that, v/hen a Government was I faced with a demand for a piece of 'popular legislation which it dared not I infuse, it made a show of putting a Bill '■embodying in come form of other the legislation' ■ demanded, and Uibu j arranged to have it thrown out in the I Council. < The reductions in taxation meant less than £2 each to from 10 to 20,000 small mon on the land;"indeed, to thousands of the small men tin reductions meant less than £1; but to the owners,of'big city properties and [he country aggregations they meant from £10 up to £2000 in individual cases and up to five" figures in, , the case of tin financial institutions .and profit-making companies, When the Labour Party "had endeavoured to confine the relief represented in the super-tax reductions-to the rural properties which did not exceed £10,000 in valuer they were heavilydefeated. Mr. -Massey was determined .that, rich gifts should be made to the wealthy. What was true of the landtax reductions was also true of the income tax. The small incomes were to get rslief that ranged*"from 2/- to £4 or £5, but the big incomes were to benefit up to £15 on*ihe £1000 income and £2500. on- the £00,000 income. He drew attention to the fact that already the cuts in the Public Servants' wages and the reductions effected in the wages of the workers in private employment amounted to over seven million pounds, while the present 3/- reduction would bring the whole up to eight and a Quarter millions. This meant reducing , the market by that amount, and to that extent the primary producers and the small ..business would be brought nearer to the day when the mortgagee would come In, • ■> ■