PROMISE OF A POLICY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15625, 3 June 1914, Page 8

PROMISE OF A POLICY.

ADDRESS BY SIR J. WAR EM FEDERATION OF LABOUR. fl| . THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM. I] . v [BT TELEGRAPn.SPECIAL REPOETI®.! HAMn.To.s-,. Tuesday, A POLITICAL address was delivered by Sir Joseph Ward, Leader of the Opposition at Hamilton to-night. Tho Town Hall waj packed to overflowing. Tho Mayor, Mr. A. E. Manning, presided. The meeting i- a , enthusiastic and good humoured. Sip Joseph, in opening his address, reminded his audience of the condition of tho coun. try when the Liberal Party first camo into power, and remarked :h,V ,his party had ever been on the side of the people, but bad been subjected at times to malign attacks from people who would not como out to the front to fight-. In 1838 ho had spoken strongly against the system by which the farmer was taxed upon his ploughs, his furniture, and Ms bedding, and tho business man upon the goods in his store or business-place, irrespective of whether they had exjierienced good or bad years. That system of taxation had been repealed by the Liberals in 1892 when the burden was shifted to the shoulders best able to bear it—tlho shoulders of the big landowners. Tho resub had been the bursting up of large estates in spite of the opposition of the party that now appeared under a new name. Somo seven millions had been spent by ;ho Liberals in purchasing estates, and on tho land had been placed some 150,000 people. Every assistance had been given to settlers by means of tho advancing of cheap money, and there were now thousands of men and women in t|!ie country who had been enabled to se.uro homes through tho foresight of tho Liberal Party. A Voice: Tluy haven't got the roads in the King Country yet. Sir Joseph referred to finance on the lines of his Auckland speech, and remarked that, although the Massey Party had always maintained that tho surpluses brought ■ down by the Liberal Party were bogus, they quoted tho«e very surpluses wlien floating a recent loan. The Massey Party had voted against his Public Debt Extinction Hill, but in the prospectus from which ho had just quoted, it was set forth that if Sir Joseph Ward's scheme was adopted at Home. England's seven hundred millioa of debt could be paid off in 50 years. Loan Moneys.

The Massey Party, the speaker main- • tainod did not represent the country, and had been put into power simply because five or• six men forgot their pledges and crossed over to vote with the party they had been returned to oppose. Since coming into power the Reform Party had borrowed more than the Liberal Party had ever do;io m a similar period, and according to its own year book, it had increased tho Customs charges by 3.93 per cent. , The Reform Party's record showed that it had gone to the bad by some £170,000 as far as the railways were concerned. It had produced the worst results, and had imparted a general manager. Voices: And a good thing too. Continuing, the speaker said that a general manager had wen imported from abroad, overlooking every man in tho country who had worked his way up frou the bottom to the top rungs of the ladder. He did not mean to disparage Mr. Hilev's work, for the manager had yet to prove himself.

Information Asked.

Inferring to electoral matters, Sir Joseph said it was the duty of the Prime Minister to state his intention in regard to the suggestion that proportional ■repretat ion was to lie applied in -the. four citics. .What right had Mr, Massey,-of '' any other Prime Minister, to keep.sSchJa *' matter to himself, for were not the people, of the four cities entitled to know wider * ; what system they were to nominate their;candidates? Was tho proposal to bo brought down after tho House met., left-, ing tho people to readjust themselves to tho new conditions at short notice?

Loans to Settlers.

Reverting to finance, Sir Josoph Ward poin'ed out that in his last year of offico £2,300,000 had been loaned to settlers and workers without any increase in the, rate of interest, while in five years he . had lent £8,800,000 to settlers and workers, A great deal had teen heard about tho amounts of old loans which the Reform Government had to renew, but lie pointed out that tho percentage of loans having to bo renewed throughout the Commonwealth of Australia, exceeded that of the Dominion and in spite of that no comr hunts were heard from Australian politicians.

in conclusion, Sir Joseph stated that.lie was not in any way attached to tho Federation of Labour. He ventured tho opinion that the introduction of the single ballot electoral system was not going to help the Massey Government at tho forthcoming general election. He promised that, at the right time and before the next general election, he would submit to the < people a policy that would have for its aim • the advancement of the country. ' l The conclusion of the address 09 ' greeted with cheers and applause, and a motion of confidence in, and support fori the Opposition Party was carried by a ' large majority. Tho meeting broke up with cheers.