“My Stewardship”

Northland Age, Volume 28, Issue 71, 17 October 1928, Page 6

“My Stewardship”

' Six Years Record What I Have Done “By Ti e Cape Policeman” (Contributed) Ladies and Gentlemen— My term ot office has expired as your representative in Parliame it ; and I hardly know what to siy to lead you to return me for another three years. It is true my first political act as your nuntbt r was to have the North Mai-ti Trunk line stopped. My campaign in favour of good roads brought us nothing more than the campaign. When people started cry ing out for "good roads” which failed to materialise Mr Coates fortunately as the then Minister for Public Works ushered in the Main Highways Boards because of pressure from Automobile Associations. This gave me a good oppoitunity to claim credit for this piece of work under pressure as aforesaid. Asa matterof fact I had nothing to do with it, hut the Highways Board operating ovar our territory have given us a good road in patches. My next piece of wonderful legislation was the setting up of the Gum Control Bo .id. i bis had the i fleet of selling the tnerchants . gainst the gum-diggers, with the re suit'that the uiggtr> have scarcely earned enough to buy food and clothing ami my friend Mr Leydon had to give up gum buyfng. A wondertu! effort you will doubtless agree. I have kept the North before the public, and those of you who have the good iortune to possess wireless sets will, I fed sure, recall that wonderful eloquent address 1 was permitted to broadcast from Wellington. You will remember that I asked the New Zealand people to picture to themselves vistas of orange groves in this ouipost of this Dominion. 1 have been told that the story went down sn well that thousands- I almost said millions —ot citizens of New Zealand almost imagined they were sampling our wonderful fruit, which 1 allowed to be inferred eclipsed the famous “Valencia’s,” Let me say tl at I backed up Captain McQu. rrit’s (fforts to make a tourist resort of Pandora, now only a memory. I tried to get the Government to establish a Soldiers settlement not far from Te Paki, bu t the Minister for Lands told me as he told your representative citizens here in Kaitaia on the occasion of his memorable visit, that he would not give a penny an acre for it. It was cruel of the Minister to dash many fond hopes to the ground, to say nothing of his lack of imagination so far as the fertility of the sand dunes and the red clay and ether poor country in the Far North is concerned. I admit quite frankly—but 1 don’t want this reported please Press representatives present —that it would have been quite a suicidal thing for the Government to do. You can’t blame me for giving it a try no matter whether it was wisc or not. There is one thing I have done which will be ever remembered by those who enjoy the distinction of being Commissioners of the Peace. All or nearly all of niy loyal suppoiters have had this cistinction conferred upon them. In point of fact the applications became so numerous that I managed to get the Justice Department to issue instructions to all the grocers in the district to give a J.P.-ship away with every parcel of groceries they sold. During this year I have travelled 8,468,981 miles scouring the country tor votes but they have not been so plentiful this season as in the past, and I just don’t kn«w what is going to happen between this and election day. I tell you frankly that the position is serious. We can’t re-introduce sectarianism now that we have fallen out with the strongest branch of our organisation. We always had a chance while it was operating, but goodness me it now becomes a problem how to get back into Parliament You see our Party is so totally bankrupt of ideas and it is going to take the Prime Minister ail his time to have a majority when the next

house assembles. This brings me to what I havi done for the farmers in the Kai taia Drainage Area. Of courst they are not satisfied, but was u not natural that I should look after the town area first. You know self preservation is the first law , of nature. I know the few people in the town area could nol have paid a heavy rate because ' they paid me too much for their land, and therefore you would not expert me to see them placed on an equal footing with the farmers who are keeping Kaitaia going. Consequently when the old man with the scythe comes along and says my time is up, I will have this satisfaction that I did help those who bought town sections after I established the town. Now to show that I have not neglected any section of the community in quest ot votes I secured for the Waipapakauri Racing Club a Ministerial permit for them to race at Kawakawa when they wanted to. race in Auckland. Of course a meeting in Auckland would have meant the future success of the club, but it did not suit my purpose for them to race anywhere than where I wanted them for vote catching purposes. As a result they got nothing out of the Kawakawa mreting. Of .course I told Waipapakauri that no Ministerial sanction would be given for a country club to race on a Metropolitan course. It was unfortunate that almost immediately afterwards quite a number of country clubs were given the right to race at Ellerslie, one club with a two days permit putting £BO,OOO through the machine. Just imagine what it would have meant to Waipapakauri to have put through £40,000. It could not

be done because it did not suit -e me. Something might be done i- now of course. ie I think in conclusion, Ladies it and Gentlemen that I have shown f- you what a lot I have done in sv your interests. 1 claim that I get iv more money on the estimates )- than any other member, but I get it less spent than any other'member e including the expenditure of natir ive rates and the £2OO bonus we