CONTEST FOR ROSKILL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17327, 26 November 1919, Page 10

CONTEST FOR ROSKILL

THE CASE FOR LABOUR. VIEWS OF MR. G. DAVIS. MR. MASSEY CRITICISED. Mr. George Davis, the official Labour candidate for Roskill, addressed a meeting of between 300 and 400 electors at the Empire Theatre, Dominion Road, last evening. Mr. M. C. Irvin presided. Mr. Davis explained that the policy for which he stood was not his own, but that of his party, adopted at a conference of 400 representatives of labour organisations held at Wellington in 1913. Personally, he had been dubbed an extremist, and extremists had been pictured as "Bolshevists, Red Feds, and Red other things." He had been fighting for unionism for 22 years, he had been secretary of the Drivers' Union, and had formed many large organisations in Auckland. He was now a member of the City Council, chairman of the Labour Representation Committee, and in other public offices which he enumerated, and he had never yet left an organisation disgraced. The various planks of the Labour platform were traversed on similar lines to those followed by other Labour candidates. The country was, in his opinion, on the verge of financial difficulty owing to the growth of borrowing, and the difficulty would seriously affect returned soldiers. These men were being placed on land bought at high prices, and when values fall to normal they would be burdened with heavy debts'and taxes. What the Government should have done was to place some of the best land in the Dominion at their disposal, make roads for it before the farmer or the soldier got there, and guarantee such settlers so many days' work upon the roads connecting with their farms. Believer is Socialism. "I am a Socialist,'' said the candidate, ' "because I believe the principles of Socialism are in the best interests of the country." Here he elaborated the Lrabour teneits in regard to State banking, namely, conversion of th© I'ost Office, Savings Bank into a bank of issue. "If we wanted to borrow £40,000,000 to meet the difficulties of the war," he asked, I "why borrow it from the people who have already 'fleeced' us at 4 per cent, and I give them an advantage by not taking I taxation on that money'/"—a system I which he estimated to be equivalent to borrowing at 6£ per cent. Tne proposed ' State Bank should, in his opinicm, have i a monopoly of the paper currency. j State butchers' shops in Queensland had i lowered the price of beef there from Is i to 7d per lb for prime joints, and yet had made a profit of £2564 in the year. Mr. Massey had said .he had his eye en the American meat trust. If so, it must be a glass-eye, for the trust had been ' in operation here for many years, and was now negotiating to complete its combine with the only meat concerns still; standing outside the trust. The Massey Government cried out for increased production, but though a bag of • sugar could not be bought in Auckland to- ' day for love or money, it was a fact, he asserted, that in the last 10 years tlfere was never so much sugar in the Colonial Sugar Company's storerooms as at the I present time. The Sugar Company knew, | he proceeded, that by creating an agita- I tion it could get permission from the j Board of Trade to increase the price of I sugar. Steamers for Produce. State insurance, nationalisation of the medical service, State control of coal i mines, extension of education, increased ' scope of pensions, and other questions were passed in review. Coming to the high price of meat, MP. Davis stated that Mr. Massey; when in England, was informed of the proposal to open a State batcher's shoo in Auckland, and he cabled J to Mr. Mac Donald to do nothing that would interfere -with private enterprise. The war profits on New Zealand exports— j wool, meat, butter, cheese, sheepskins, and hides—had amounted to £57,«04,847, and : those profits should have been used to: meet the war debts. The Government . had not been so anxious to feed our soldiers. As a matter cf fact, the Home . authorities had not wanted our produce, j State papers showed that Mr. Massey had pleaded with the High Commissioner to secure steamers to carry away our produce in order to get dividends for his friends; also that he had given a guarantee to the shipping companies to the extent of £5,000,000 for ships to serve the interests ' of the capitalists. Would the people of New Zealand stand this state of affairs, or would they send to Parliament me/i willing enough and strong enough and honest enough to give an honest deal to the people ? That was the proposition the electors had to consider. Questions having been asked, the candidate was given a vote of thanks and confidence. * ADDRESS BY MR. V. H. POTTER. The Government candidate for the Ros-„ kill seat, Mr. Vivian H. Potter, addressed a meeting of electors last evening at the Methodist Church Hall, Dominion Road. The hall was full, Mr. E. F. Jones presiding. ' I Touching briefly on the various subjects dealt with in his inaugural address, Mr. Potter emphasised the,benefits derivable by returned soldiers under the scheme id vocational training now in operation and which apparently • are not being fully availed of by the men to whom they are applicable. Referring to anti-profiteering legislation, the candidate emphasised the fact that the Act would not be effective unless individual members of the community brought to the notice of the Board of Trade any instances of profiteering winch came to their notice. A number of questions'were asked, one \ being as to whether Mr. Potter was justi-! fied in claiming to be the official candidate of the Government. In reply he read the following telegram received by him from Mr. Massey:—" lam given to" understand there is some misapprehension in certain quarters as to your being the official Government candidate for c kiil at the forthcoming genera! election, I desire to repeat, that*you are the official Government can-! didate and that you have been accented as such by me as leader of the Reform Party and I sincerely hope you will be returned with a sweeping majority." •A unanimous vote of thanks and confi- 1 dence was accorded to the candidate. I ' RAGLAN. [BY TELEGRAPH— correspondent.] HAMILTON, Tuesday. ' The Government candidate for Raglan, Mr R. F. Bollard, M.P.. addressed a wellattended meeting at Whatawhata last evening, Mr. Laxon presiding. The candidate was attentively followed, and answered a few questions. At the conclusion of his speech he was accorded a vote of thanks and confidence. THAMES. [BY TELEGRAPHOWN CORRESPONDENT.] THAMES. Tuesday. Mr. T. F. Long, who is contesting the Thames seat as an Opposition candidate, addressed the electors last night in the ' Miners' Union Hall, Mr. Boyl e presiding, j Mr. Long stated that he was standing as '; an Independent Liberal, because he did not think the present Liberal leader was ; '. fitted to hold the party together. This, he ! said, had been proved in the past. He 1 advocated more encouragement to mining '. and prospecting, an improvement to the education system, with all books and school appliances free, higher wages for ' all labour, and Government action to re- ] duce the cost of living. He was accorded a vote of thanks. ■ - \-