GENERAL ELECTION

Northland Age, Volume 25, Issue 28, 29 October 1925, Page 3

GENERAL ELECTION

THE CASE FOR LAB- HJR. | MR. BISSET AT KAITAIA | The Offirial Labour can didate ( (orßayol lslands(Mr. A.E. Ihsset) addressed a fair attendarce of electors at the Northland Hall last Tuesday night. Mr. J T. B. Taaffe occupied the chair and introduc"'! the speaker. Mr. Bisset, who received a good j hearing, said for many ye rs he was a follower and suppoiter of the Reform Party. He had > followed end supported it ardently white it was in oppo lion and tor some little time afo r it had come into power. Bit on that Party reaching pov ?r a process of disallusionmsnt Jet in. \ While the Reform Party v as in Opposition it vigorously cor demned the Liberal Party and the Literal Party’s policy, and pled- i ged itself to carry out a number ’ of reforms if it were returned to power. It came into power; bat f the reforms were never c; iried out. The Reform Party pror ised the reform of the Civil Se ice, but had not carried it ou . It . condemed the Liberals in connection with Native Land Ad:. nistration, and constantly re erred 1 to the Liberal’s Native Land } Policy as th- “taihoa” p; ticy; and it promised drastic and [ speedy reforms of that “ta 10a” policy ; but it had done no ing to better it. The evils surrounding the administration of f ative Lands were flagrant. Thev all ! kfiew them. But the Re form Party that had professed to lie so eager to remedy the evils that \ had grown i:p around Native Land Administration, and r *oged itself to Reform those vils had made no effort to d so. These were 6ome ot the m ters in which reform was calls 1 for and promised bv the Re "orm Party—more eould be inst need —but no effort had been made to carry out the promises and pledges made by that Party while in Opposit'on Was/any wonder he was disallusioneo with and severed his connection with that Party ? Continuing, Mr. Bisset sad he! was not a politician— net an orthodox politician —he was ack- j ing in some of the essential 1 that some politicians seem to be necessary when they are canvassing for votes. He was a woiking man, out in the interests jf no particular sectior: ef the conmnusity, but in the interests efthe man who was engaged in e ssential work, and that include/ the | farmer —the working farmer. Incidence Of Taxation The Reform Party had i ased the burden of taxation on th* rich and placed more on the m in of moderate and pcor means. In 1918 the taxation derived from customs and excise duties percent was 2918. The in ime tax in that year vas 45*54 Five years 1 atcr in the tax don from customs and excise di ties per cent was 4T61. Thi income tax was 24'5/V The Government had reduced the income tax and put it on to the customs and excise duties—-taking it off large incomes and putt.ng on the accessaries of fife. Farmers’ and Workers’ ! Inter esTL identical A line had been drawn between the farmer and the worker in essential industries. There r- ally •was no line. He was out ju-t as much in the interests of the 1 'bourer, using that word in its narrower sense. But both were v trkers and their poli’ical aind economic interests were identical and until these two sections o' the community came together they would never get fair represt utation. No Such Party In New Zealand as Extreme Labour. There was really no difference in policy between Liberal and Reform. These parties ha-' recently been discussing the ?. 1 visability ot fusion. The only difference was that when the L.bere als were in power they adm nistered the progressive and hu nanitarian acts sympathetically and Reform did not do so. The two parties were going t® combine and whitewash ttiemselve,, in order as they say to combat what they term as “extreme Lat our.” Now there was no such thii g as an extreme Labour party in Tew Zealand. Country’s Land policy yt Fault.

He contended that one o the strongest indiements that could be brought against past Governments in New Zealand was that although it was one of the richest countries so far as natural tfe sources wfere concerned, it was only carrying apopuiatimp of 1,350,000 people. Thereraustoesomething wrong with the land policy ot

the past Governments when after . one hundred years of settlement : the population did not exceed ' that number. One land settlement scheme that had proved a success was the old homestead system, under which all a man had to pay to enter into possession of a section were the survey fees, and by complying with certain conditions after five years he acquired the title. Settlement among similar lines should be readopted, and there were other -cherries also for settling the land that would ensure the settler a good chanre of success and re-act beneficially to the State" Labour Not to Interfere with Freehold He knew perfeetly well that in ontesting the election in the interests of the Labour Party a bogey he would be up against was the idea prevalent in the minds of many of the farmers in the electorate, that if the Labour Party came into power it would take away the right of freehold. That was not so. If the Labour Party got into power it would not interfere with the small man hav- j ing a freehold, but if that man J wished to sell he would only be j allowed to sell the State. The land would be valued by a v aluation board (to which the far ners would elect their own representative in each district) according to its productivity, and that, plus improvements, would be the price the State would pay. The Labour Party, however, intended to stop what had been one of the greatest curses in this country, and which had affected the North more than any ether part of New Zealand, and that was insensate land speculation, and one of the means to tnat end was to deny the right of a land-owner to sell land re a private individual.

The Labour Party proposed to effect closer settlement by imposing a land tax, steeply graduated, so as to compel the holders of big estates to quit to the Government. Closely allied with the Labour Party’s land policy was the matter of rural finance. In that connection the Labour Party proposed to establish a State Bank. The object of that bank would be to provide cheap money forfirmers and others and thereby increase production. In addition the Party proposed to provide shipping and marketing facilities in order toget the Country’s products to its markets as cheaply as possible, and eliminate unnecessary and expensive middlemen. Medical Attention Many lives were lost in the backblocks owing to the fact that settlers on account of expense involved, neglected to call in medical assistance until it was too late. To remove the anxietv of the backblock settler in this respect the Labour Party proposed to nationalise the medical service, so that the most remote settler would he able to secure medical attention for his wife or family without incurring heavy liabilities. Roading Problem The problem of roading was a vital one in the North. Many settlers had gone into the backblocks years ago in the expectation that decent roads would be put in in a year or two, but they had been very often sadly disappointed. It was a mistake to allow settlers to go into the backblocks under these conditions. The roads should have been put in before the settlers took up the land. If this had been done there w ould have been far more settlers on the land in New Zealand today. That would be the L 1 Dour Party’s policy. The main roads I of the country should be nationalised, and only the cost of thi byroads should be borne locally . Better railway facilities

Why was there such a marked difference between the railway services near the main centres and that in the outlying districts. The services to the country districts should be brought up to a higher standard and the facilities improved. If the railway services in the country were improved it would tend to encourage people to settle on the land and the State would benefit by the increased production. Mr. Bisset dealt with education, pensions and other planks of the Party's platform, and concluded by saying that he was opposed to all unconstitutional methods and ■ violence in any form. The Lab--1 our Party were out to remove the ! underlying causes of discontent. After having answered Burnerous questions the candidate was accorded a vote of thanks on the motioa of Messrs. G. Wilkinson and J. O. Williams, Mr. Wiikin- ! son remarking that from a p :rso- . nai point of view he wouldsooner giva his vote to Mr. Bisset than any bther candidate. Mr..Bisset speaks at Sweetwater to-m<?rrow' at noon and Waiharjirfc [ to-morrow night.