THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15767, 16 November 1914, Page 9

THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN.

SPEECH BY MR. ALLEN.

GOVERNMENT'S GOOD RECORD

DIFFICULTIES OVERCOME.

FINANCES ADJUSTED.

THE DEFENCE QUESTION.

[BY TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION.]

Dtjkedin, Saturday. The Hon. J. Allen, Minister for Defence, addressed a meeting of electors at Milton on Saturday night. There was a large attendance.

After dealing with the Government's settlement of the late strike, Mr. Allen said the strike leaders were joining hands with the Opposition Party in order to punish the Government. It was not a question of politics. The Minister pointed out that a combination of Labour and Liberals in office would be dangerous, because if Liberals were placed in power by '•he • aid of ten or a dozen Labour members, and were sustained in office by their support, these ten or a dozen men would drive the Liberal Tarty in power just where they wanted to drive it, but the Liberal desire for office was so keen that they would commit the country to almost anything to get there.

Mr. Allen claimsd that the promises made had been kept and quoted as an instance the option of the freehold given to settlers, and the Government's land legislation generally. The purchase of land by the Crown had been going on more actively than in the previous history of the country. Money derived from the sale of land had been set aside for the purchase of more land. In one year 770 settlers who had bought their land had handed over £100,000 as a result, and that money had gone into the land for settlement account and was being used to purchase more land. Surplus and Land Settlement. The Minister next toached upon surpluses, and pointed out that had he allowed ' £80.000 derived from land to go into the Consolidated Fund, as his predecessors had done, the surplus would have been neaily £520,000. That £80,000 had. however, been handed over to the land purchase for settlement, account and would be available for further land purchases. Extraordinary Expenditure Faeed. The Government, he said, had to face extraordinary expenditure, such as £30,000 lor "smallpox" epidemic, £90,000 tor the cost of the strike, and a shrinkage of i £170,000 in railway revenue owing to the i strike and "smallpox." notwithstanding these ditaoulites it had a surplus of £426,000. When the Government took office in July, 1912, the cash balance in the Consolidated Fund was 1,000. On September 30 last the Consolidated Fund had a cash balance of £399,000. He said unhesitatingly that th© Advances Department had been used for electioneering purposes in 1911. The ■ board cut down the maximum amount that could be borrowed by local authorities and settlers, and stipulated that no settler could borrow to redeem a mortgage coming due, and never announced the fact until the elections were over. 'The Government had then to reduce the maximum of advances to settlers and local authorities, but it had not kept that fact back from the electors. The Government had cut settlers down to £500 and cut local authorities off for the time altogether. Advances Increased. A few weeks ago, owing to improvements in the Post Office Savings Bank tho Government, said Mr. Allen, had increased advances to settlers to £750, and hoped to be able to increase them to £1000 at the end of next month. Workers' advances were cut down for the time to £350, but were raised again recently to £400, and he hoped to advance them shortly to £450. In the first month of the war deposits at the Post Office Savings Bank exceeded withdrawals by* £90,000. Then, owing to a panic in September withdrawals exceeded deposits bv £80,000 or £90,000. In October deposits exceeded withdrawals by £150,000. This showed the confidence of the people in the Post Office Savings Bank and in the Government. The slump in the bank began before the Government came into office. In the first week of July, 1912, withdrawals exceeded deposits by £66,000, and that was the beginning of the slump, but the Government restored confidence, and now the bank was a perfect institution for the people to put their money in with safety.

Pledges Fulfilled. The Government had fulfilled its pledges to restore the finances, and public works could be carried on till the end of the financial year without going to London for a halfpenny. Sir Joseph Ward did not think the Government should impose a, war tax at present, and neither did the speaker. The reason was that it was necessary for industries of the countiy to go on unhampered, and a war tax on land, or anything else, might be used as a reason for dispensing with labour, and might lessen production. Provision for the War. The Government, however, had made provision for the war. It had been estimated that if the war lasted 12 months, the Government would want £2,000,000. When this estimate was made the Government was not providing so much help for the Mother Country, and the estimate might not now be large enough. Mr. Allen said he had communicated with the High Commissioner, who then approached the Imperial authorities, with the result that he could raise £2,000,000, month by month, from the Bank of England, at a rate of interest which had , been publicly stated by the Leader of the Opposition as an excellent bargain for the Dominion. A few weeks ago the Governments's advances to the Imperial Government regarding loans had met with a favourable reception and the Imperial authorities had guaranteed to assist in December next to raise sufficient money to pay off Sir Joseph Ward's loan. Therefore the Government had re-estab-liehed the State Advances Department to deal with these loans and had provided for a war loan on most favourable terms, and had so fulfilled its promise to reI establish finance. Defence Department's Good Work. After referring to the equipping and sending away of the expeditionary force, Mr. Allen contended that the Defence Department had justified its existence, and , he as Minister for Defence had a right to say to the people that the work done had been well done, and that New Zealand might well be proud of the men who had gone away or who were going away. He particularly wanted to say to the public how grateful he felt, not only to the men who had volunteered to go, 'but to these who had remained to carry on necessary work tore so that when the soldiers came back they would find that the products of the country had been kept up and its. industries maintained. He also wanted to I thank those parents who had spared their j sons to go to the front.

Naval Defence Question. He referred <<o the question of naval de. defence. He regarded an Imperial Navy and one control as an absolute necessity for the time being. That control centred in the Admiralty. As years went by it might --e that the control would be altered and that representatives from the various Dominions would have a feeat on the.controlling authority, and would there con-

aider : questions of peace and "war and the naval defence of the Empire. That day had not come yet, and he would not go into that aspect of the question. The position as regarded naval defences at present was that they were all agreed abou*an Imperial Navy and one control, but they were not agreed as to how to constitute this great Imperial Navj|S His (Mr. Allen's) proposal to build up an Imperial Navy was to make an appeal to the patriotism of the people and allow the Dominion's own statesmen to take an interest in Imperial concerns. We might, in the course of years, adopt the policy the Commonwealth Government had adopted, and not only train our own. personnel, but also to provide ships. Then if the occasion arose, everything would go over automatically to the Imperial authorities. >

A hearty vote of thanks was accorded the Hon. Mr. Allen for his able address and the meeting expr<ar*ed its confidence in him to represent the electorate, and also its confidence in the present Government, of which Mr. Allen was a distinguished and honoured member.