No Compulsion For Civilian Farm Plan

Northern Advocate, 28 October 1949, Page 3

No Compulsion For Civilian Farm Plan

P.M., IN WHANGAREI, SAYS

THE Whangarei Town Hall was half filled by about 350 people last night when the Labour Party’s campaign in the Marsden electorate was given impetus by an address by the Prime Minister (Mr Fraser)

Mr Fraser was given an at was frequently punctuated by a

There were occasional inte enough to be clearly heard, and Prime Minister.

Fifty people occupied the u there were not more than 300 dc

lentive hearing and his speech pplause. Ejections which were not loud ihev were brushed aside by the

The Mayor (Mr Jones) chaired the meeting.

pstairs portion of the hall and iwnstairs.

Also on the platform, in addition to the Prime Minister and Mr Ross, were Mrs Ross, and the president of the Marsden Labour Representation Council (Mr A. Hellyn). , At the conclusion of the address a vote of thanks to the speaker and confidence in the Labour Party was moved by the chairman of the Whangarci branch of the party (Mr I. G. Rogers), seconded by Mr E. Mann. It was carried by acclamation.

said, referring to the party's land policy. It was proposed, he said, to obtain a dollar loan to purchase heavy agricultural machinery which could not be obtained from Britain. Mr Fraser alsc mentioned the Government's policy in regard to the settlement of young civilian farmers after the needs of ex-servicemen were met.

Opening his address, Mr Fraser said that the party had been most fortunate in securing as candidate a man with the qualifications and ability of Mr Ross, who was well equipped to understand the needs and problems of the community. UNREAL CONTEST

He stressed that this scheme would not be put into operation until all returned servicemen who required land had been provided with their needs.

“This contest so far is rather an unreal one.' 1 Mr Fraser said.

NO COMPULSION lie denied that land for these civilian farmers would be acquired by the compulsory clauses' of the Land Sales Act. The need for these compulsory clauses was obvious when the act was introduced, but tneie would b; no c< irpuLory acquisition oi land r or civilian farmers who x.ould be aett >o under terms sinvlar to those of s.-rvicemen

“I cannot prophesy what Mr Holland will be saying tonight. “He might say anything or nothing —probably the latter. “in the past three sessions we have tried to understand what the Opposition was getting at—they were halfheartedly criticising the Government for various things but there was nothing specific. “We will probably be accused by Mr Holland of extravagant spending, and I hope that such accusations will be backed lip.'’ The equation of many with goods and services had been achieved by the Labour Government as far as humanly possible. "I do not say Mr Holland will be talking about these things, but he was nibbling at it in the House,” Mr Fraser continued, adding that he wanted to know by what means Mr Holland proposed to maintain the equilibrium between money and goods and services. “We do not want to hear vague and useless generalities,” the Prime Minister said. "We want him to come forward with concrete suggestions that we can examine.

The Government was well aware of the fact that many thousands of acres of good land in Northland were awaiting development and it was its policy that this land should be brought into production as soon as possible.

Mr Fraser also detailed the Government's policy in regard to stabilisation and education, mentioning that 87 per cent of the primary school children now went on to post-primary education. compared with 57 per cent in 1935. There were five times as many chil-

TOASTED CHEESE “At this very moment Mr Holland will be baiting the trap with some toasted cheese, but the electors are not mugs, and they will not let this obscure the mountain of goods and wealth which the Labour Government has brought to New Zealand.” There would be claims of extravagant spending on the part of the Government. but the Government was proud of its spending, because it had brought so much happiness and security into the homes of thousands of New Zealanders.

Listing Labour's achievements since 1935. Mr Fraser said that the future prosperity 'of New Zealand and the welfare state depended on the continuation of the policy which the Government had so successfully pursued since it came into office, notwithstanding the difficulties which had accompanied the war years. •RAGGED’ INDIVIDUALISM?

Speaking of world affairs and of growing unemployment in the United States and European countries, Mr Fraser said that New Zealand’s economic policy of stabilisation was such that the country could now withstand the sudden shock of any world-wide depression without starting to cut wages, services, or social security.

This would not be the case if the National Party became the Government.

They believed in “rugged individualism” and for thousands that would mean “ragged individualism.”

“The Labour Party is not a company of dreamers —they have dreams, visions and ideals, but you cannot float away into the atmosphere with dreams, you've got to start right down at the land, at the turning of the soiL” he

There were five times as many teachers now training as in 1935 and the number of children from workingclass homes now attending universities had increased very considerably. He concluded with an appeal for liic continued support of electors at the the forthcoming election. Mr Ross, who was warmly received by the audience, spoke briefly, giving his personal pledge to uphold the Labour Party and its objectives.