LABOUR IN GREY LYNN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19148, 14 October 1925, Page 14

LABOUR IN GREY LYNN.

'OUTBURST BY MR. 3 ART RAM. BITTER spirit displayed. ATTACK CftN SIR JAMES PARR. The Labour c. uididate for Grey Lynn. Sir. F. N. Bartr.'-im, was encouraged by a large and friendl v ..audience at his opsnjn<y meeting at Iviahmond Hail last evenijin-. Mr. A. Sccttt presided. A certain portion of the candidate's address was devoted to an attack on the Government, particularly Sir James Parr, and a protest against what he designated "dirty tactics" employed in the election campaign, lii spite of the Government's new evangelism of common sense, goodwill to all, and no class hatred, he maintained that it was the antithesis of all those things. The passing of Mr. Massey was lamented by all who knew him, but the policy he. stood for was just ay potential for evil as ever it was. " And now," said Mr. Bariram, " we. have a brand new Prime Minister, fresh as paint, fresh from the paperniill. .Personally, Mr. Coates is a very estimable character; he certainly does not deserve ihs fulsome, sickening adulation now being. poured upon him by the newspaper pre&> of this country." The Prime Minister ti'ould bluff to perfection and his altitude to Labour was summed up in the short shijft he gave to Labour deputations at W. ellington. " OonV- aEQ h< ) iiis Imagination." The standard el fair play tnat the Government meted t : ut to its opponents, however, was best typified in Sir James Parr, whose ot Labour at Henderson was noth'.Kf" Imt "the wild out pouring of a biassec). and contumelious imagination." Sir James had said the Labour Party's p!',.tiorm came from Russia. but he knew v that thai was pure moonshine. It was f>V example of the tactics that were to be agonist Labour ;;t these elections, 'the Government was going to trv the "same scurvy dirty tricks that frightened the people in the British elections." Ifc was going to "damn the Labour Party at .all costs." The speaker took strong exception to some remarks alleged to have \been made by Sir James Parr at Henderson about the " record " of Mr. Holland in Australia. '" What do you think," he asked, "of a Minister for Justice who stands for dirty tactics of that sort ? I am ashamed- of. Sir James Parr! I expected better of a Minister of the Crown than that !" i ; The speaker paused and then continued: j " And having laid a foundation ot slims"', j the Minister went on to poison the tin- j sophisticated people of Taupaki and spokb | of long-whiskered, greasy individuals in | Moscow. I understand that some old men ? with whiskers objected to tfie allusion." (Laughter.) At Mount Albert, said Mr. Bart rum, Sir James said that Labour's land policy had its origin with a watchmaker at Palmerston North. That was an implied insult, not to the watchmaking fraternity, but to the manual workers of New Zealand. The speaker concluded the reference to the Minister with a word picture of Sir James emulating Don Quixote, charging I the windmills of his imagination, emitting } " hysterical squeals," and, with the 15am- j ing sword ot Damocles ni hand. " stand- j ing at the Garden of Eden and pointing ; the way out!" Nationalisation of Industries. A considerable portion of the address was devoted to an advocacy of nationalisation of industries, the speaker claiming that what was considered e'ficient in waxwas doubly-essential in peace. '1 his led to a dissertation on war, in which he declared that the visits of British and American Fleets to the Dominions were part of an international propaganda to foster the war spirit in order to bolster tip a decadent capitalism. That reminded him there was a vote of £20,000 on the Supplementary Estimates for the entertainment of the American Fleet, and while be had no great objection to entertaining our overseas friends, he could not forget that the Government could not find £20.000 to spend on research work in connection with infantile, paralysis. Speaking of trusts, ho said that a wellknown Auckland business man had told him he could land good household coal in Auckland and supply it to the door in full sacks at 3s a sack, compared with 6s 6d for a doubtfully full sack as sold by the "coal trust" in Auckland. 'Maternal mortality was discussed at length. It was unfortunately only too true, said the candidate, that the New Zealand rate was higher than in England, and although he did not like running Ids country down, we made a very poor showing with other nations. According to official statistics the deaths were live mothers per 1000 children horn, compared with 3.8 in England and Wales and two per 1000 in Denmark. Denmark had had a socialistic Government for years, but very little was said about it in the newspapers. Denmark was the one country in the world that wiped the floor with us where dairy production was concerned, yet when socialistic Governments came under discussion it. was always "Look at Russia!" A Shortage of Houses, The speaker dealt finally with the housing "problem, refuting the suggestion that it had been solved. An attempt was being made, lie said, to create the atmosphere among the country people that the shortage of houses, was apparently over. This he denied emphatically. In 1021 Government reports stated there were 23,035 houses in New Zealand that were overcrowded. Since that time permits for buildings had been granted to the number of 21,705, leaving a deficiency of 1350 if population had not increased since that time. But it had increased by 91,315 and 81.000 people bad married, creating a demand for 40,500 houses. At the very outside, over 30,000 houses were needed. A motion of confidence in tiio candidate was carried unanimously. ANOTHER CANDIDATE, LABOUR IN HAWKE'S BAY. [Br TELEGRAPH. -PRESS ASSOCIATION. ] j K A PIE I?, TucefJay. i Mr. A. L. Ogilvy, of Hastings, is an- j nounced as the Labour candidate for the Jlawke'.; Bay scat. PROHIBITION RALLIES. A grand pageant, under the auspices ! of the New Zealand Alliance, will h>> i lield in Mrs. Lee Cowie's East Street t Hull to-morrow evening. Other gather- J ißgs under the auspices of the all in nee ! will include a speech by Mrs. Lee Cowie 1 at noon on Friday, opposite the city ! markets, the daily open-air meetings at mid-dav on the Civic Square site and the prohibition rally at the Baptist Tabernacle. The speakers at the latter meeting will be the Revs. F. E. Harry, of Wellington, and J. J. North, of Christchurch. In addition there will be ;>n open-air meeting at Pukekohe on Fridav evening, when Mrs. Lro Cowm and the Rev. S. Olphert wis! speak. This will be followed by an address by Mr. A. J. Stallworthv, who has recentlv returned from Canada and the United States.