Mr. Boswell Seconds The Motion

Northern Advocate, 5 July 1939, Page 8

Mr. Boswell Seconds The Motion

j The motion was seconded by Mr C 'W. Boswell (Government —Bay of ! Islands), who stated that he proposed j to deal with subjects which would ! concern more particularly the farming j community of the Dominion. He proI needed to criticise 1 the Opposition’s election tactics, and stated that the true issue in his electorate (.Bay of Islands) was the socialisation of means of production, distribution and exchange. He had won his contest, he raid, because the people of his electorate had decided that the wellbeing of the country lay with the policy of the Labour Party. Vast Resources of Northland. He then went on to deal with the vast resources of the country in which i his electorate was situated, j Northland, ho said, was rich in parts j it had been exploited, and scarcely a | penny had been left to develop the 1 land from which such valuable pro- } ducts as kauri, kauri gum and flax. | etc,, had been taken. Nowadays, how- ! ever, it should bo remembered that Northland sent away more butler than Taranaki. It had also sent away wool, meat and other products. Wealth Attracting People. It was because of that wealth that

the people were being attracted to the territory, but they had no roads and no railways to give them. People v/ere looking to the Government and the House to make good that deficiency. He appealed to the GovernorGeneral, the Prime Minister and members of the Government and of the House to visit the wonderful North during the Centennial year, and see its resources for themselves. Need For Roads. He also appealed to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance to be not only just, but generous in making provision for roads for back country farmers of Northland. Guaranteed Price Extolled. Mr Boswell went on to stress the benefit of the guaranteed price to the dairy farmer, stating that it had proved of inestimable value to Northern farmers. Sheep producers of the North also desired a guaranteed price for their wool. Lifting Of An “Incubus.” The people, Mr Boswell further stated, believed in State control of the monetary system. Before Labour attained office there had been some £47,000.000 of overseas credits in London, but in New Zealand there had been some 1,500.000 people many of whom were starving. Thank God, he said, the £47,000,000 had gone, and the people were well fed and happy. He considered it was that £47,000,000 which had hurled the present Opposition from the Government benches across the House to their present seats, and it would keep them there. Education. Mr Boswell contended that education had been harshly treated during the National Government’s regime. The present Minister of Education, on the other hand, had been responsible for great improvement. He had spent £2,000,000 on new school buildings, and had £3,000,000 marked down for the same purpose in his future programme. He had raised teachers’ salaries and improved their conditions. There were still some things which were needed, however. For instance, teachers would do better work with smaller classes, and it was hoped in time, to be able to reduce the number in classes to 30, perhaps even 25. A Terrible Statement. The spectre of totalitarianism, he continued, was raising its malicious head in the confines of this, country. He referred to a speech, made by the member for Tauranga, Mr Doidge, on June 14 at Tauranga, in which he advocated that Mr Savage should appoint six businessmen to Cabinet positions to set about reconstruction while there was yet a chance. That was a terrible statement, said Mr Boswell, and struck at the very roots of democratic Government.

Mr Boswell was greeted with applause when he ended his speech, which lasted an hour and a half. The House then rose at 9.50 until 7.30 this evening.