AUCKLAND WEST.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17339, 10 December 1919, Page 10

AUCKLAND WEST.

MR. BENNETT'S CAMPAIGN. THE " GO-SLOW POLICY. PASSAGES WITH INTERJECTORS. A crowded audience was addressed by Mr. C. F. Bennett, Government candidate for tho Auckland West seat, in the Britannia Theatre last evening. The seating accommodation was"" fully occupied, and there were a considerable number of people standing at the back and in the entrance. Mr. R. Armiger presided. Some of those seated at the back of the hall wer e responsible for a number of interjections and a certain amount of interruption, but. they were neither disorderly nor obstructive. The candidate handled each outburst as it came along with readiness and good humour, and had no difficulty in making all the points of his, speech, as well as scoring off those who sought to nonplus him. Commencing with a review of the present financial situation, Mr. Bennett proceeded without interruption to analyse the position and reach the deduction that so long as men of ability and business experience were returned to guide the destinies of the country there would be no need for pessimism. Similarly he dealt with the question of the present high cost of living and met little objection until he declared his belief in the present arbitration system for dealing with labour disputes, when there was some dissent. Passing on, the candidate reached the matter of the " go-slow" policy, and declared that it was one of the contributing factors in the present high cost of living. At this there was some objection, and when he began to quote a snppositous case of a man picking blackberries to show how going slow would increase the price to the consumer, the uproar drowned his voice for a moment. Cost, of Living and Land Settlement. "I tell you, boys, if you keep me here till midnight I am going to get this off," said Mr. Bennett, and the noise subsided, when he proceeded after appealing to them to make their interjections pertinent and if possible intelligent. He then dealt with the matter of the cost of living in some detail, and passed on from it to the land question. There were, he' said. millions of acres of land in the Auckland district not yet touched. A Voice: Massey has been going slow. Mr. Bennett: Bring a little intelligence to the subject and realise that Mr. Massey has had other things to do during the war. (Applause.) Bound up with the land question, he continued, was that of com- ! munication. Roads had to be made, and who was to make them? A Voice: The Labour Party. I Mr. Bennett: You are quite rightf it is only by labour that the roads are going to be made, but not by the present so-called Labour Party. The labouring man, he said, was the back-bone of the country, and it was only right he should be in a position to make a competency for himself, but that would never be done on the back of a union. From immigration he passed to the question of housing. He said that during the epidemic Auckland had been accused of having slums, and it had been denied. Perhaps there were not; but at any rate there were houses which were not fit for occupation. There were dozens and dozens of houses that were not connected with the drainage system -and had no bathrooms. A Voice: Have you got any on your books? (Laughter.) Mr. Bennett: I thought that was the kind of house you would be asking for if you wanted one. (Renewed laughter.) The Housing Scheme. The candidate then claimed that the housing scheme provided last session would go a long way towards solving the present difficulty. There must also be provided, he said, quick and cheap means of transit, so that, people would be encouraged to live in the suburbs. A number of other subjects were dealt with by yie speaker, who then asked for plenty of questions. A large number were dealt with, some oral and some written. One questioner at the back of the hall asked if Mr. Bennett, who had stated his views on the liquor question, was in favour of having the price of beer made. the same as that of coke. No inducement would prevail upon him to explain what he meant by the question, and he finally sat down amid a chorus of laughter and amused interjections. A questioner challenged Mr. Bennett to prove that his contention that the Labour Party supported the right of recall on a requisition from 10 per cent, of the electors. This, he said, was not in the Labour Party's platform, and he challenged Mr. Bennett to show then or at any subsequent meeting where he got it from. After a little search among his papers, Mr. Bennett found a circular, entitled " Points from the Labour Platform," in which 10 per cent, was suggested as being the proper percentage, and showed it to his questioner, who subsided. After a further number of questions had been discussed, a vote qf thanks and confidence was proposed and declared carried, though a member of the audience protested that he had had no chance to move an amendment. OHINEMDRI. [by telegeaph—own ooerespondemtJ MORBINSVILLE, Tuesday. Mr. Hugh Poland, Opposition candidate for Ohinemuri, addressed a meeting of farmers at Motumaoho last night. Motumaoho was added to the electorate recently. The candidate criticised the Government war pensions scheme, and considered many anomalies should be removed and that pensions generally should be increased. He had voted in favour of gratuities being increased to 3s per day, not as a vote-catching scheme, but because he considered all soldiers should have at least 3r, per day when they returned, and because th.6 country could well afford more than eighteenpence. A vote of thanks was passed to the candidate. MARSDEN. [BY TELEGBAFH COBSESrONDENT.J WHANGAREI. Tuesday. ' Mr. F. Mander, Government candidate for Marsden. speaking at Poroti last night, pointed out the difficulties encountered by the Prime Minister and the successful manner in which he had surmounted them. He based his own appeal to their confidence upon his record of 17 years' service. He was accorded a very hearty vote of thanks. At Matakana, last night, Mr. A. H. Curtis, the moderate Labour -candidate". delivered a fighting speech. He criticised severely what he considered the lack of ; broad popular legislation in the GovernI ment's record. Mr. Murdoch, Independent, addressed i a meeting last night at Tauraroa. The I meeting was well attended, and the candi- | date was accorded a vote of thanks. ! TAUKANGA.. [BY TELEGRAPH— COEEESPONDENT.I „., TAUEANGA, Tuesday. The Hon. W. H. Hemes, Government ! candidate for Tauranga, addressed meet- , ings of electors at Tauriko and Omanawa ■ last night. At each place he was ac- ' corded a vote of thanks and confidence. ROTOBUA. [by telecraph— CORRESPONDENT.] MATAMATA. Tuesday. The Opposition candidate for Rotorua Mr. Malcolm Larney, addressed a large meeting at Mamaku last night. The candidate was given an attentive, hearing, his speech being punctuated with applause. At the conclusion he was accorded a vote of thanks and confidence.