Mr Barclay at Town Hall. Large Audience. Dominion Broadcast

Northern Advocate, 3 October 1938, Page 2

Mr Barclay at Town Hall. Large Audience. Dominion Broadcast

T>ROADCASTING THE FIRST POLITICAL SPEECH RELAYED *'ROM WHANGAREI THE LABOUR CANDIDATE FOR MARSDEN, MR J. G. BARCLAY, M.P., ADDRESSED A CROWDED AND ENTHUSIASTIC MEETING AT THE TOWN HALL ON SATURDAY NIGHT. EVERY SEAT WAS OCCUPIED, AND THE VESTIBULE WAS CROWDED. CROWDED. During a two hours’ speech, Mr Barclay was subjected to little or no interruption, so that the men ;n blpe who were in evidence spent a quiet evening. Qn entering the hall, Mr Barclay was an ovation and musical honours. He was introduced by Mr D. L. Ross, chairman of the Whangarei branch of the Labour Party.

In fulfilment of an advertised prom-

ise Mr Barclay undertook to reply to an open challenge issued by the Marsden branch of the National Party regarding the attitude of the Labour Party and of himself to the objective of socialisation. “The .local paper has been full of open challenges of late. The Nfttloßcfl Party organisation Is like, an excited man throwing his arms about.

“Not Borrowers.” “We are not a borrowing Government,” said Mr Barclay, referring to the financial policy. “We have not floated a single loan abroad since we came into power. The easiest, thing to do would have been to borrow money as our predecessors had done, and to decrease taxation, but that would, have made us friends of the money-lenders, not of the mass of the people. In the 15 years prior to Labour rule New Zealand obtained £64,000,000 from ‘Uncle Moses’ overseas. “Since 1935 the National Debt has grown by £8,000,000 to £290,000,000. Mr Coates borrowed more than £8.000,000 in one year. Cries of “Good old Gordon.” A voice: Give that calf more rope! Tribute to Colleague. “The Minister of Public Works has a way of expressing himself which some of us envy, but he has a better knowledge of his job than any previous Minister.” “If it had not been election year, I am sure that the local paper would have given us full credit for the opening of the Brynderwyn deviation, which will save motorists £IB,OOO a year, and which will be of great importance in the development of the North.”

“Cur local paper is to be congratulated on getting an advertisement costing between £2O and £3O from the National Party. I have been openly challenged to reply through the columns of the local paper in the same way. Evidently they didn’t know I was a Scotsman. “If the local Nationalists had written to Mr Savage or Mr Nash the reply would have been received that they were Socialists without their having to spend £25 or £3O. “Some Leaders Are Socialists.” “Mickey Savage has told you that he is a Socialist, and so has Walter Nash,” continued Mr Barclay. “With all due apologies to seme of the Labour Party members in Whangarei, I confess that I have never read Karl Marx, or. some of the other Socialistic theories. Some of the leaders of our party do not deny that they are Socialists. Our opponents are antiSocialist, but we are not stupid enough to say that if they get into power they are going to turn the post office-, the hospitals, the roads, and other State institutions over to private enterprise. Neither should they say, just because we have some Socialists among our leaders that we are going to socialise land and every-

“The ‘Advocate’ lias treated mo very fairly so far., and 1 am making no complaints. At the same time I am too Scotch to pay £25 to answer a challenge through its columns." A voice: Beply to the challenge now. Union Domination Denied. “The Labour Party is not dominated by the trades unions or by any one section, representative of the whole people," said Mr Barclay in his final remarks. “We have kept 90 percent of our promises. From 1935 onwards, even in years -when prices for our primary produce were high, Mr Coates was always saying that prosperity was just round the corner. Fjw, in Opposition, he says that a slump is just round the comer. The .way to keep it there is to keep his party in Opposition. “Under Labour, the privileged few have not been hurt by giving a little more to the underdog, for Whom we have always fought. We are out to see that the Working farmer and the wage earner gets a little more and the man who doesn’t work a little less." Mr Barclay was again accorded an ovation upon resuming his seat.

A lady interjector;’ Well, aren’t you? Shouts of “No,” and a few calls of “Socialise everything.”

“That is my reply to the National challenge,*” added Mr Barclay.

Several voices: It is no reply, “When thefre is a threat of loss ol equity, vested interests become far more abusive than any agitators who spring from the gutter," Mr Barclay declared.

• Resolution Carried,

On the motion of Mr A. J. Magee, chairman of the Marsden Labour Representation Committee, seconded by Mr A. M. Falstein, secretary of the Whang,arei branch of the iiabour Party, a resolution of thanks to Mr Barclay for his address, and for his work in the interests of the electorate, with a promise of confidence on polling day, was carried. The chairman announced unanimous consent, but, as ho did so, a number of hands went up in support erf the negative. Thrust And . Parry. “Questions do not go over the air well,” said Mr Barclay, as the microphone equipment through which he was speaking on relay from IYA and 2YA was being removed.

A Lady in the audience; It is the answers that do not go well over the

Answering a question regarding the Government’s land policy, Mr Barclay said that it was intended to hold the remainder of the unallocated Crown lands as endowments, and to grant renewable leases with payment for improvement.