A LIVELY MEETING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18244, 10 November 1922, Page 10

A LIVELY MEETING.

MR.\ PARR AT AVON DALE. MR. MASSEY AS FINANCIER. PROOFS OF HIS SUCCESS. A largely-attended meeting of electors of the Eden district was addressed las* evening at the Avondale Town Hall by the Hon. C. J. Parr, Minister for Education and Health, in furtherance of his candidature for re-election to the Beat. Mr. A. W. Kinnibiirgh, Mayor of the borough, presided. The proceedings were considerably enlivened at the beginning and end of the speech by two or 1 three persistent mtcriectors and a noisy crowd of youths. The candidate opened his remarks with references to some of the services be had been able to render to the electorate, and to Avondale in particular. He had dealt briefly with the Main Highways Act, and was proceeding to explain the benefits of the new customs tariff, so far as local industries are concerned, when, to the huge delight of the rowdy section of the audience, all tho gas lights in the hall went out. The contretemps:—evidently dne to some wag who knew whero the meter was— created much laughter. As Mr. Parr r«sumed his scat a voice from out of the darkness cried: " 130 on, Jimmy, get going again;" another calling out: " Coming events cast their shadows before." HTiis .sally was greeted with renewed laugTTter. Members of the fire brigade, with the aid of a tall step-ladder, soon had the lights burning again, and Mr. Parr proceeded with his address. He touched upon his ideals of preventive medicine as applied to the children in the schools. Half the physical ills of to-day were, he said, preventable. The Most Persistent Heckler: Like the Mount Albert epidemic. Mr. Parr: Oh. you be quiet. I like sensible interjections, but not assinine ones. (Applause.) - He proceeded to review the planks in his education platform. He said he intended to introduce a standard set of school books for the whole of New Zealand. (Applause.) He also meant to cheapen the books. How much did they think free school books would cost? Over £100.000. A Voice: Well, It's a rich country. Mr. Parr: la it ? I wish it were. Another Voice: Not rich since Massoy's been in power. Prime Minister and Finance. The Minister next dealt with the ques-. tion of loyalty, as reported elsewhere. He made a stout defence of Mr. Massey and his Government, and trenchantly criticised tho other parties on the lines of his previous Bpeech. He went on to say that Mr. Massey had been accused of "having banglcd the finances of tho Dominion. That was simply political bunkum. Mr. Massey had been an excellent financier. He had raised in London a £5.000,000 loan at 5 per cent. No country stood higher in London finance than New Zealand, and not one had a better name. That did

ot look as if the finance of the Dominion

had been handled badly. Where was the man in Parliament to-day who would do as well as Mr. Maaseyf He contended that there was not one. The suggestion of bungled finance, he said, was that of a disappointed politician who would like Mr. Massey's job. He denied that the Government had been guilty of waste or extravagance. The present Government bad by a system of fair subsidies kept the prices of bread, butter and sugar below the level of that in mast countries. The price of sugar m New Zealand to-day was 3£d to 3Jd a lb., having been reduced from 4isd recently. In Australia sugar was lid a lb. dearer than in this country, where we had the highest grade and the cheapest in the world. This was because the Government had made a contract for 167,000 tons with the Colonial Sugar Co., and was giving the people the benefit of it* Scene at the Conclusion.

The candidate answered a number of questions, after which Mr. Forbes Eadie, an avowed opponent and one of the most persistant interjectors, moved a vote of thanks to Mr. Parr, " for his first appearance among us in three years to give an account Of his trusteeship." The mover, growing very excited, commenced a speech which he evidently meant to be quite a long hnranfme, and finally mounted the platform. He resolutely refused to leave that point of vantage, .in spits of the urgings of the chairman and the shouts of the audience, until, amid great confusion, a policeman came forward, and at his request Mr. Eadie resumed his neat. His motion was seconded. An amendment of thanks and confi-

dence was promptly moved by a supporter of the candidate, Mr. J. W. Tait, and seconded by Mr. W. Vallance. The amendment and motion. were put alternately. Obviously the audience.was confused as to which they were voting for, but the fact that Mr. Parr's sur>Eorters were in a very large majority ad been sufficiently plain all the evening, and it was undoubtedly the amendment that was carried. CAMPAIGN IN MARSDEN. MR. JONES AT WARKWORTH. [BT IEtEGBAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] ; WARKWORTH. Thursday.

Mr William: Jones, the official Reform candidate for Marsden, opened the elec-. toral campaign in Warkworth on Wednesday -night, holding a meeting m the Town Hall In spite of a'downpour of rain. a.fair number attended. Mr. Jones outlined his policy, stating.-that he had no time ' for tha Labour Party as at £ resent led, and that he held that the abour Party would never reach what they wanted until they had • the • bulk °i the true labouring people behind them, and among them the farmers of the country, who were .the hardest working class of labourers, particularly the dairy farmers and their families. He supported the Massey Government because he believed that there was not another body oi men in the. country who could hava done as well for tho country during the past seven or eight strenuous years. Continuing, Mr. Jones, as a man with considerable experience on local bodies, spoke very highly of the administration of the Public Works Department while under tHe charge of • the Hon. J. G. Coates. Some of tho other departments, however, wanted considerable improvement, and he reserved the right, to criticise anything that he thought was wrong. ' Referring to solder settlements and the outcry against the high prices paid for Borne of the land, Mr. Jones said he had Been a good deal of these settlements, and, as far as he could judge, the soldier settler on the high-priced, good land was doing as well as the average farmer on tho sarao class of land. If there was to be a revaluation of ' these lands, there should also be a revaluation of the men, for some of the men would nwer make farmers, and" they should bo assisted to some other trade. Mr. Jones strongly advocated a continuous policy of road metalling by njeuua of loans raised by local bodies and subsidised by the Government £1 for £1. The new Main Highways Bill, if properly worked by local bodies, backed by strong pubjlie opinion, would go a long way toward solving the roading problem, which, he thought, was a vital need of the country, good roads being the life blood of the land A number of questions were asked and answered,. and at the conclusion of tho meeting a vote of thanks end confidence woa earned unanimously.