CONTEST IN PARNELL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20080, 18 October 1928, Page 15

CONTEST IN PARNELL.

THE LABOUR CANDIDATE.

CAMPAIGN OF MR. YARN ALL

EXPOSITION OF PLATFORM

Only a small gathering attended tho initial addreiw by Mr. J. W. Yarnall, the official Labour candidate for the Parnell electorate, given in St. Mark's Ilall, Remuera, last evening. Mr. F. W. Schramm presided.

. The fii'ht, point dealt with by tlie candidate \va: the record of the present Government during the past three years. What had the Government done, he asked, to relievo unemployment'! It had spent £500.000 during the past year, but what was £500,000 out ol' a total annual revenue of £25,000,000 ? If the Labour Party wero returned to power it would set up a committee i-. seek the basic causes of uncmployment, and would pnss «in Uncmployrriont Insurance Act, under which the State, the employer and tho worker would contribute to a fund in equal shares. Turning to immigration, Mr. Yarnall iaid for somo years from 12,000 to 15,000 people had been coming into the Dominion annually, and these had been in part rcsonsiblc for tho present position of the country. The Labour Party would stop all State-aided immigration, only allowing those into tho country who could afford to pay their passage and tako up land liore. It wiuld refuse to take settlers unless there was some provision to prevent them becoming a charge on tho State. General Manager of Railways. in regard to finance, tho Government had iccently remitted taxation on tho wealthy, while no relief had been granted to thoso who were least able to pay. The large farmer and not the small man had benefited Dealing with tho salary of tho new general manager of railways, Mr. 11. 11. Sterling. Mr. Yarnall said: "I can conceive of nothing more scandalous. You may s.-.y the Government must pay for brains, but do- you conceive that there 13 not an officer in the department who could not fill che position at a lower salary ? I contend that if the salary 'wero fixed at a reasonable figure there would bo plenty of officers offering their ser vices Tho Government has made a serious mistake in appointing a manager at such a ridiculous salary." Tho action of the Government in bringing forward tho Mental Defectives Act was also strongly criticised by Mr. Yarnall, who described it as "an alarming piece of legislation." "Somo of thp greatest men in the world might be accused under this bill of anti-social conduct." he said. "We have to be very careful when we say that a man should bo placed on a list of defectives, which may lead to his being confined in a house of detention." Aims of Labour Party. The candidate then turned to the platform of the Labour Party. The first thing Labour would do if it, came into office would be to establish a State bank. Unless the State exercised control over tho financial - institutions it soon came to be in their grip. The second aim was the reduction of working hours to give workers more leisure to enjoy the pleasures of life. Labour would increase tho compensation scale for injured workers, and would give full wages to a man incapacitated by illness or injury. Women would be placed on absolute equality with mon in all respects, continued Mr. Yarnall. A Labour Government would increase tho allowance for children of workers earning less than £4 a week from 2s to ss, and would provide :t maternity allowance. Children would be given free education, including all school accessories frco of charge. They would be taught not military instruction, but humane thought. The Labour Party desired to benefit tho lower middleclasses, which were in an even worse position than (ho skilled artisan. The Reform Government was in the grip of tho bigger interests, and could do nothing for these classes. Communist Aid Eefuscd. "Wo have also great ideals which mako Labour different from all other parties," continued the candidate. "Our very namo expresses one of the great truths of tho present ago, 'Every man and woman should render acceptable service to tho community.' Everyone should do something to justify his existence." Labour offered freedom, an ideal the party always sought to attain. It stood for freedom of thought, believing that every man should express the ideas which canic into his mind. Freedom of speech was another primary aim, and tho party held that every man had the right to express his opinions, no matter how radical they might be. Every man should be free economically to live his own life.

Labour believed in the brotherhood of man and of the nations, and stood for internationalism, which meant tho abolition of war and armaments. Tho Labour Party also stood for order, and any attempt to gain power would bo made by constitutional means. In this connection the Labour Party had officially refused tho aid of the Communist Party in Auckland in fighting the present election. It believed in the ballot-box rather than in anarchy.

At tho closo of tho address Mr. Yarnall answered a number of questions, and u vote of thanks was carried unanimously.