NO-CONFIDENCE DEBATE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14927, 27 February 1912, Page 8

NO-CONFIDENCE DEBATE.

QUIET NIGHT IN THE HOUSE A SILENT OPPOSITION. TALK from government SIDE. KEEPING THE BALL ROLLING [BY TKLKCn.VIMI— M. COHBKSI'ON'DEXT, Wellington, Monday. I'm-: debate on Mr. Masscy's nc-confi donee amendment was resumed in the House of Representatives this evening. All the galleries were quite full, there being a speially largo attendance of women. Many people, who had come on the chance of hearing the debate, could not get into the chamber, and a large number listened outside the windows to catch what they could of the speeches. The Hon. T. Mackenzie, who resumed the debate, paid the Opposition in this debate had ignored the Governor's Speech, calling : f an insult. Was it, air insult to the workers to take the duty off tobacco and to make a.'l the other concessions outlined in the Speech? The real reason why they ignored the Speech was because they could not digest it. It was like steel tilings to them. Mr. Massey had hit bolow the belt in reproaching the Government with the fact that some sons of ; farmers had gone abroad in search of holdj ings. The Government should be- given I credit for this condition, for the men who ! had gone were the. sons of those who had i done exceedingly well in this country. But j for this their sons could not have go.ic , abroad to seek larger areas and wider i j territories than were open to them here. j Mr. Mackenzie challenged a statement | by Mr. Herdman that investors were being j discouraged in this country, and contended tint it" offered ample scope for investmtnts.fl. 'Iho forecast- of the chairman -of directors of the Bank of Now Zealand, that the Dominion would have to face a period j of low prices, had not been justified. An attempt hail, said Mr. Mackenzie, j i'tt-p made- throughout the length and I bread;.;: of New Zealand to assassinate j politically the Leader of the House (Sir j Joseph Ward). Some of his opponents ! had already made their furnaces jso hot- that they had singed J themselves. Nothing was more re- | grettablo in the political life of Now Zealand than the campaign oi slander that I had been carried on, but when the history I oi this country came to bo written the name of Sir Joseph Ward would .stand oat in dear and strong colours as that of one who had done great things in i the interests of its people. An Appeal to Labour. Mr. Mackenzie, after defending ;'.he ad- I ministration of his Department, proceeded I to appeal to Labour. ".Big estates," ho j said, "must be- broken up, and if the present graduated tax would not servo to J break them up it must be increased. A new political era was dawning, and a new political economy was required, under which a greater share of wealth would be given to the people now poorly requited, who did so much to produce it. The man who required the care of a State was the man who was struggling with a family, and the present Government had done what it could to assist people of this description."' Defeat With Honour. I Mr. Mackenzie ridiculed the idea that the Opposition represented a majority of I electors in the Dominion, and twitted it with having lacked courage, to nominate a candidate for the Speakership. If they won in the pending division by one or two what a victory it would be when it was considered that they had refused a pair to a 6ick man, compelled to go Home and undergo an operation in order to save his. life. Defeat, compared with such a victory, would be honour. The Opposition was now seeking to capture some of the occupants of the cross benches whom they had failed to kill during the election campaign. The very wealth of a Conservative party dehumanised it. Mr. Mackenzie admitted that Mr. Massey might be a Liberal, but expressed doubt as to whether his followers would permit him to promote progressive legislation. Another Ministerialist. The Opposition gave no indication of any desire to reply to the Minister for Agriculture, and after an appreciable pause Mr. G. L.iurenson rose with an apology for continuing the debate. lie said, as Sir Joseph Ward had announced that he would vacate his position, the motion of no-con- ; fidence was really directed not against, him, but against the Liberal and Progressive parties,. There was no open and clean- | cut chSrgo against Sir Joseph Ward, but i there had been hints and hcadshaking, i which were a disgrace to,those from whom they emanated, and tended to drive good, j but, thin-skinned men ojut of public life. ; It was charged against the Government : that they borrowed excessively, yet the Opposition voted lor the loan.-', "it was political hypocrisy to declare against- the increase oi expenditure by two millions, and to suppress the facts that much of it ! was duo to the activities of the lending ■ Departments, and to old age pensions" education, tho post office, etc,. When the Liberal party went on the platform, which they had sadly neglected—-(Ministerial hear, hears)—they would place the facts before the people. Mr. Massey said that they were taking two millions., a year more from the people now than they wero in 19D6. but very much of that came from Customs duties on luxuries, which evidenced the great prosperity of the country, and from the railways, and the Post and Telegraph Department. In spite of concession after concession in the Post and Telegraph Department, revenue from that Depurtmeift had increased by half a million, in five years. Similar' results were shown in the Railway Department. The only taxes increased 'were the land and income taxes.

A Question for Mr. Hiue. Just before the supper adjournment Mr. I Laureruson read the following telegram, j which, he .slid, reached him this evenj ing :— '" Pnhukura. Laurenson, MA'., Welling. ton. hi view of the-statement in the House by leaders of the Opposition that they had nothing to do with the wild and reckless statements and filiations made against Sir Joseph Ward during last election, will yon please ask our member Mr. J. I!. Hine. in the House, why he told us in his- midribs at Thirty-three' Mile Siding tlio night, before the election that Sir Joseph Ward had not given particulars o? £120,000 out of the five million loan, and Low docs he reconcile this statement with his party's denial? If Mr. Hine believes this to be true he .should ask for another inquiry, and prove it. Otherwise lie should resign his seat and retire from public life _ for making such malicious charges against a- public man where no press reporters are "present.— (Signed) D. Wir.nERMOTH, Pohuknrn," .Mr. Laurenson laid the telegram on the table of (lie House. Behind the Curtain. Mr. [;. \'v. Smith (Waimarino) derhred that if th elections were held ;r;ai:i next we„k the. result would he- verv V liferent, Ii the Cowrnnieri'u was beaten on the coming division one redeeming feature *««ld be that the other side would have a ~hane« ot -looking behind the curtain, and the public -would look for the revekiIrons that had been hinted at, but there would nob be any.

What Might Have Been,

■V- , V - M. Myers (At.eldand Km) said the Opposition had gaincd 3? '

seats, but if a revision of the electoral laws that was desirable had been made before the elections the Liberal party would hold 37 seats, the Opposition 27, Labour and Socialist members 10, and Independents two. In private life the Opposition members were all honourable men, but for political reasons they had associated themselves with a policy that certainly did not reflect any credit upon them. With virtuous indignation they sought- to dissociate themselves from the. allegations against the Administration that were current (hiring the campaign, and he admitted that the statement made by Mr. Massev that evening was of a character that" would do much to elevate public life. The constant repetition of innuendoes must have some influence upon the minds of unthinking people since they had been' allowed to go uncontradicted by the Liberals owing to weakness in their organisation. Attacks on the Prime Minister. Mr. Myers said consistent and persistent attacks had been made upon the Prime Minister with the object of driving him out of political life. Until lie denied the justification for the rumour six out of every 10 people in Auckland believed that I the removal of the post office from -Short-land-street to Queen-street had been effected by Sir -Joseph Ward for liij own profit. lie considered it, the tintv of '-very member, irrespective of " his political opinions, to challenge Iho authenticity of such reports immediately they came to his knowledge. L-'u-lsse members co-operated in this way for iho protection of the honour and the dignity of Parliament, public opinion would be demoralised, and self-respect-ing men would be driven out of public life. At the present- time Sir Joseph \\ ard stood- pre-eminent among the public men' of the Dominion, and every citizen was proud to acknowledge the distinction Ire had achieved in Imperial conferences. The country could ill afford to lose the services of such a. statesman as he had proved himself to be, and he ventured to predict- that the time was not far distant when the people of the Dominion would be proud to welcome Sir Joseph Ward back to a leading part- in the political activities of the Dominion. Alleged Frenzied Finance. Mr. Myers asked where there was any evidence beyond a bare and general statement to justify lie allegations of frenzied finance, which in the language of the Leader of the Opposition were " enough :o make sober people stand aghast V Personally, he would not for a moment support an Administration whoso operations ivere calculated to produce financial and industrial stagnation. In support of his contention that there was no justification [or any such conclusion Mr. Myers oxl'nincd the public debt in detail, and argued that the national assets were being iicreased more rapidly than 'the public lebt. and provision had been made for .he gradual extinction of the national liability. On every hand evidence could be 'ound of the continued prosperity of the Dominion, and comparative tables showed .hat New Zealand compared very favourlily with Australia and Canada. lie ould tinu no justification for the statement hat the credit- of the Dominion had been njured in any degree by the financial iperations of the Government, though the Opposition had predicted that they must erminate in disaster. That pessimistic •pinion was certainly not held by the Jritish financiers, or bv the investing mblic. • Some G?nsral Questions. Discussing other matters. Mr. aid that the Opposition party did not pro>ose to discontinue the beneficial systems , established by the Liberal party, and in lis view it was surely wiser to maintain > hat party in office to administer the legis- < ation introduced by it, rather than put in ha party which had opposed the legislaion. Mr. Myers concluded that he felt ;ure the debate, with its vigorous speeches, vould dispel any doubts on the part, of hose who still hesitated as to the manner it which they should vole. He felt assured j hat- having been brought by the result ' >f the polls to appreciate its* weaknesses, he present Administration would, if mainlined in office, prove itself worthy of .lie traditions that it bad so long main- : tained, and would continue to operate in 1 -he interests of the Dominion. For that ' reason he could not seo his way clear to 1 support Mr. Massey's amendment. ' The adjournment of the debate was noved at 11.40 p.m. by Mr. A. E. Glover [Auckland Central), and will be resumed ,>y him to-morrow afternoon. MR. H. ATMORE'S VOTE i PLEDGED TO NEITHER PARTY i [ci" telegraph.pi; Eh' ASSOCIATION.] e eilso.v, Monday. An interesting visitor who arrived in S'elson on Friday seems to have had the .nterest of the Government very much at leart He interviewed the members of ' "/•-.Atmores committee, pointing out the 1 idvisability of Mr. Atmore voting for the i government. Several members of Parliament also telegraphed to Mr. Atmoro to • vote for the Government. Mr. At more 1 :lid not pledge himself in the election earn- 1 paign, and may be depended upon to vote ' * in the merits of the motion.

•RGED TO SUPPORT GOVERNMENT. fBT TELEGRAPH.— PRESS ASSOCIATION.] Nelson, Mondav. The Waterside Workers' Union to-night solved to telegraph to Mr. Atmore Ureig him to support the Ward Government n the no-confidence motion.