HON. G. LAURENSON.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11657, 12 June 1912, Page 1

HON. G. LAURENSON.

' LIBERAL PAiriV: J'AST AM) J'KESKXT. ~\lr G. Lauroiisoii.. Minister tor Labor, etc., iviis received iast liifiht iiL the Town Hall by ji t'r.l! house with warmth, and that. despite the cold outside. The chair was; occupied by his- Wot>hi|> the i[ a y„ r (!)r. K, JM'Adani). with whom were on tin-- platform the Hoi'.s. G, Jones and T. V. Duncan. .Mcs.sr.V I). Sutherland, R. rdilliyaii; J. Gilliiind. and ■> ■ Taylor. . S] . . The Mavor, in introducing- the Minister, -aid \lr Laurenson had lu'en memI her for Lvttolton for many years and had recent! v been elevated to Caoinr-t rank. There was at leas! ode bpht , ■.pot. ill Mr Laurenson s visit: he liatl riot been worried by any deputation or dole--•nciiui wanting this, that, or the ou.or • hiuu-. The Minister represented a pari v with n very line name, the IVosi.res.sive party, hilt line names wee a. . Feature just now in Xnv Zealand po : i-j tics, lor'were there ..of also the jLMonn| panv and the- S'Laneohcat party besides ! that'other section that advocated a live-| da-.-s - week and six hours, a day. -Mr . Laurenson was pri sent to put bciore tuo •uidiciii'i' tile side nt tlic political (|Uesjioii tak-i! ni> by the ]iresent Government. , , Mr Laurenson.. who w;vs oiicourae:ed a L the outset bv applause, said the Govern; iT-OilL was in'ihe iiniorium;te nosition ;;i b.-iu- made responsible for evervtniiie;. and beinii abused for anything that went wiinifi. 'J'ho other day a correspond.-nl j continued and thai there was strong

leoHng'iu Auckland against the Government' for not having ended it. '! he Aiiuif-tersaid that if the Government interfered it would be placed in .the.same 'i.i-i'ivvi between man and wife —b- would bo hit over the head by both parties to the affair. The Government could not lake tin' miners by the neck and im->ist on their resuming work: it could, if a-decd. act as arbilrat or. h,u it had net been asked, -so Hiat Interitrence would

In.- vii'ivt'ti merely i;s an impel iimece ni.il would inily 'make matters wor.se. v.hv the "JMiui.-.Li'i- bouiered to go round the <-ou;:trv addressing, audiences. The fact was that lie a>.:■.! Ids. confreres iouml arrayed n gain si l!i>'rn a solid phalanx of •threo-ouarceiv oi the newspapers of L',io coionv,' who fought the capitalistic cause bitterly a.ad not al..'ny-. sentpnloitsly, and the only way lo combat Ilia! adverse influence was. to adopt the policy open -.o all men. and take the public p l:\t•onn. thus meeting the electors hue in face and. explaining away misrepresentations. After all. it was a .ureal blunder for people to take their politics from the Dress. \V!io, after all, was the prc.-s? 'rake the wealthy capitalist who wanted to crush some movement in its infancy. He bought a newspaper, and had a man at :-;o much a week to write for him. and that man wrote on the lfnes lie was asked without the slightest hesitation because he was paid to do it; The editor of the Dominion was a man named Earie. who was paid so much per week to write- on behalf of I'2 wealthy men. who owned lielweeii iher.i one and three-quarter millions of land. )et I hey saw teieui- :l phi-d all oyer the country that the .Dominion said so and so. or the Otago Daily Times said so and so. Who was tiie Otago Daily Times r j Simply .some newspaper editor sitting in I his room writ inn iiee'i: do;;?; ii> order-.

| That was file Otago Daily Tmics. They had to face those men on tile platform and in the forum. i\o asked them never to allow their ideas on politic to lie formed by the leading article of their papers. The man who did that \-.'as the man who did not thin!; for himself. -Yet they knew the deadiy e!V; :■: of reiteration and reru-ntion. When they had a newspaper tepenliug and rei!-e:-;;tiilLr 'This ' Gov enm-en! is; ooruiju. this Government is spendthrift, aiifi this Government is uon-progro=-sive.'' eventually the majority ol the people would form their ideas on what thev had seen repeated in the prc-H. It was for that reason Unit members of the Cnhii'.et had doseid; d to address th.? electors, as <uv.cn a- pr.ssih'n--. Tb-e ineensistency of the Opposition Press was one of its most striking features, said .Mr Lauroiisoii. A lew -months the papers vrere very bitter in their attacks (in. j'essrs i'n.vi'n' and Robertson, who there that thev had been urosslv deceived i)v the' .statements" which had! been made about flic Wa ''d Ministry.) and seeing- also that Sir .Joseph Y\;<r(l: was onto! ofheo. thev Wvi'r not honor! to vole for Mr -Massoy. Those "men had j been denouncod b'v the Conservative; papers, and yet I hose same papers were | the oilier (lav holding up as absolute j paraioms members 01 the Libera! pnn.vj who limy hoped would break then; ia,iii i with that pariv and vote for Mr .Mns.-.oy. I As - ; be Chairman had said, the number] remarkable. ' If' public oipnior. wa,s re-or--euted hv a Vim rid-'-. Ire at one end would re:r.<'---(-!it tile hide-bound Tories ami! in a'!, the other "KJ the revolutiouit" was that: ihe Present wl'ei.'in'iiio Dommiou had said he bad '•,u in turn a Liner;'!, a l.aiiorue. and a Socialist, •■but damn all these | and lone; live anarciiv." Ail progress, however must advance alone sane aiKi reasonable lines, but none the less i-cre mu-t be m-eeress. !ie,;eked those on •lie Conservative title if they could name;

anv neriod in ike world's hisiory iiuu was more fraught witji change then the era thev iveie now living in. '• '"-*>* could not. The- present was the most remarkable ace that the old world had ever .passed through. Let them take any domain of human activity: say. toe mercantile marine. He came to this countrv in a ship propelled by means as thai which came out ol iii CrOTO years ago. Now she was a relic <n a bytione aso! Tilany men sit linn in the autiienee would rennmiher the hand-loom weaver. Look into the woollen factories nowaclavs, and imagine the incongruity of the hand-loom. ;>[any could sti]l_remember the days of the hook and sickle. 'now as extinct as the dodo. Then take the change in the means of communication and compare in tins respect the courier on horseback of a comparatively few vears aito '.villi the wireless marvels j of to-dav. 'These changes were synonymous with all changes of human thought. Take the domain of politics: did those people-who advocated Conser-vatism-realise the changes being wrought in tiie'world to-day. Portugal recently revolted for grealer freedom, and Tur'key. Persia, and China, the most Conservative countries, have (ought for and gained fre-e Pai liaments. This feeling ol unrest and change was sweeping over the whole world, and whether people believed in them or nor. progressive ideas had come to stay, and only those who kept abrca-i of them co.uk! hope to prevail. Dealing with the work done by ihe Liberal party tluriug its tenure -of office, ib' Lau.cnson |i re facet I his remarks by stating thai no election caused him so much regret in the last campaign as that which involved the defeat ol his old friend 3li" .Duncan, who had sat in the House tor. over l's years, fighting; i'or an improvement in the conditions ol the people, aiwav.s svinpathotic to the wants of the workers. Since ISi.tF the lialtv had inaugurated cheap money. Mr 'Musser called it a State pawnshop—yet he and his followers, with brazen ef- ! ronton', now claimed credit for it. For . die workers a weekly half-holiday had iiejn secured a ltd laws governing work

i:i faeiories had been passed. These laws secured lii-ai i he I'irl who previously had worked iiir I-' mouths without pay ai;d had .then been turned oil' should ;h;.paid .-so n:neit a week on stanine; with yearly iueroi'.r'-nts. Then the employers 'wore' rendered, liable for accidents to tlieir servants;.the Government said to them, just as you insure your house ;i.miiiu>t lire you ouist "iiisure'vour employees aga'iist accident. Free education, had been -another boon gran ted,

iiiid nr.-.;.«k,ns iroro given io old people who. alter bearing the burden of the day ■ and paying taxes all their lives, found. | that they had not sufficient left, to -ensure comfort for their last days. The most humane measure of all was the widows'" pensions. As to the improvements (-fleeted one need only look at the groat donartmoirrs. Postages that once cost 6d 'had. under Sir Joseph Ward, heen reduced to Id; that entailed a. tiomendous saving to merchants. The cost of telegrams had been reduced by halt". Vet the post and telegraph stall: wen.- better treated than <?v«r before, and had their superannuation to look forward to, Ou the railways the men worked for (is a day at once tune and I here v. as no pension, Public school teachers' salaries have greatly improved, and tin- .superannuation fund has assured the future. Altogether.

every man and woman in the. country had reason to' bless the day the Libera} Government took office. And bow did the Opposition receive such changes as i the Old Age pensions Act:-' Air ilnsscy J .':aid it would degenerate into a charily. i i>i!c ibe Conservatives claimed that they I had changed: the Ethopian had changed ! his skin and the leopard bis spots. They bad b.vn changing gradually for years and coining to see the error of their wav. vet }'■'• months ago they opposed a humane measure—-the Stone Quarries Act. which .had lor its object the saie(.'nardint: of live. .!>e:i!k'iK with the loans, "Mr Laiireiison said that tlii's v.:u A heading under which the Government had been strongly criticised. The Government took U]) tire atliludefhat instead of weajthy mercantile Jimis 'n'fvov.iu.e at Home and lending out to the nenpi-e of tho Dominion at a pruhl. the' Government itself would go into the Homo market, borrow on better terms than, these private concerns, and lend au'ain to private individuals iiilti public bodies without profit. In this wav the country bud been greatly advantaged by receiving cheap money, 'i he Government had been able to lend at 4. 1 . i)er cent.: before that the iinaileial concerns charged anything from 7 per

cent. !•]>'.■, aid. And despite the charges levelled the Liberal Government of over-borrowing, what, were the facts!-" Twoniv -.ears iyii. when ibe_ national debt was less than' half what it is now. ibe interest on the non-productive por-tio-i'of the debt was CI os 7tl yier head'; now it w;.is l-es fid. And if it were so very wrontr to borrow, why did not the Ceuservatv.es oppose the ' loans . 3ir beano did' move to reduce one vote, and

I vi't when .such an opportunity was alI 'forded lih'in Jir Aiassoy and his followers voted :!L';;iin;,t the 'reduction. If :i mini in''business Mil borrow cheaply and lem over the jnoiiey in development of liis business at a rirolit he would be foolish not to hornsw. .Did not the same •rule applv with a (.•mmtry:- Mr Masse;, at Auckland had said that the Oovorn-liu-iit had increased the expenditure of the country by over two millions a year. This was a fact, but it was only half the truth, The -expenditure on tiou had iieefi increased by £2of).frK;; post- and tclcuraph expenditure ha-a bem incrcasid botwe'.« £4<lO.O!)0 am; £:';of).l!f;0. and railwav expenditure by £7wf!.(';f!!)! iint Mr Massey had .omit-

i"r] to state the m-ouis. ' Telegraphs Minwed a r.,vrr.!!(- id" iJ75i).000. and ilrtrailwav revenue had increased _ to ti.l ';!),(;!!!;. There ivi'iv no items of expenditure that '-ould be condemned, and Air and lii.s party voted for all these ,-xpe'nditnros. The "Ward Ooveru- ■ uii'lifc pri'ir to ihe elections had tweij. .•!'.>iriiixl with no;;-progr; ssivenoss;. a>id. vet (lie speaker said Sir Joseph ~\Y\\T(] was one o! ibe most progressive administrators b... had ever known. Mr Sodden before lii.s d<ath had promisee! i;i set aside one million acres as; a nai tioiial endowment, ih order to utittress up tile old age pensions, and other votes against had times. "When Sir .Tos=ph Vi'ard Ivcaine Premier he set aside nine • aiilioa arris far this purpose. This was condemned by the Opposition, who .staled thai the endowments were, or such a r.ualiiv that they would not appreciate'in value. The other day when, he was in Alexandra he was approached by a deputation who asked him to sub(jiv'i'ie o]'.-' of those endowment runs, which was let at a rental of ill d an acre. They offered for the foothifls portion of the run 20s. an acres, and the 3lm!-rer was assnnd hy the Land Commisriouer that the rest of the rim if subdivided v.-:,uld !:t at douhie the present ren'ai. That was a sample id" ihe land that was not going to appreciate. Th-' prohlein nowadays, said ?.ir lanirenson. was not how to produce wealth, hut how to distribute if. ,\!.r Gladstone had said, that the fairest moae.s of "disfi iUution. was the heavy <i-ai!i -I'liics. Tile New Zealand (»'<>- -.element had parsed .a. Death Unties Act providing for an increase of duly on (states ,;i £U)AY,).t or over. As an illustration of the Way this worked: A. man died lately leaving an osinto valued a|. ilWi.iKJfi. Tin: stamp duty on thai estate was for tidSJIHO, Tho man could not take the money with ! him and his; family was still left amply i.i-ovjdcd for. As lot giving sons a go: d start in life, if you want to kill ahov'- nro-p--ct:--:. said tiie Minister, tell idin that he will inherit £10;).(!!)0 at 21. Amo'v ;ia- enarges levelled against Sir .Jos-pi; Ward were that lie gave aDreadnought without consulting Pariir.nient. The speaker though he should, i have (■.,,;-■ l:'!.c] 'tli- Mouse, hut the irlVt- I ie-ait was- approved hy all. and they j shook! forgive the impulse that ; prompted the method oT giving. Tlien. again. Sir .Joseph accepted a. title .and was. railed against therefor. It would gyitsraily he' found that those who howled loudest on this account were breaking their hearts to he appointed Ju-lir.-y. of the Peace. And Sir Jof-eph

V-'ard w:;s :> Catholic; in i iiese days when the laic- Chid' Justice of England: j (Lord Pir-sel' of Kiliowcn) was a Catholic, and the- ?,lar<,ui.s of Pipon (a. recent Viceroy of India) a Catholic, and .Sir Wilfrid Laurier (Into Premier of Canada) a Catholic, it conies with a bad grace to taunt Our late Premier with being of the same religion. It was not the man who followed the religion of his father and. his mother that was a menace, but tho man who had. no religion at all. As to the Reform Party. Mr Laurenson said it was a party to he viewed with the greatest suspicion. If the police, find, a man who at one time passes- as Smith, then as 'Pobinson, and' afterwards -a-s- "Cronky Pill." they suspect him very gravely. Just so was it with tile Opposition 'who had at- one time been tho Conservatives, then tli.v* National Association, and now were the Peferm Party. What was their programme anyway? This party wanted to cut up the Native hind. There were 40,()ii:i Natives in New Zealand, and they Void: £4.000.000 worth of land. They wore the last remnant of a large population, and the land had been, secured to them by solemn treaty. There was such a thing as national honor, and it would be to our eternal, disgrace, if we allowed the Maori to he. robbed .if a single acre. There stoodbehind Mr Ma-sev 130 men who owned between them £13.000.000 worth/ of land, and before tackling, the. Maori ho thought we should address ourselves to his white- brother and ijiake him disgorge some of his C 13,000,000. They also wanted a Civil Service Board to ensure that appointments were properly made. , There, had been many clinrges of nepotism in the Civil Service, hut they were without foundation. Tie had. heard a well-known politician call the Covrriimciit corrupt because two hoys, from Southland who passed the.Civ.il .Service. 000 th on the list gained positions by -virtue thereof. That politician claimed there must he corruption because GOO appointments were not made in a. year. The truth was that of-the SOO 'that- passed 40 were girls. To or cent, refused situations, others wen... found medically unfit, .so that if 00 appointments were made-the'candi-date who passed SOOth on the list would be appointed in absolute rotation. The Tteform party claimed that they caiue as hones-t men with clean, hands. Tie had usually found that' those*--men

niio bragged iii.ist of their honesty do- J t!ii> greatest .suspicion. Jt was j absurd to expect- Kadicaiisni from a lot J of crusty old Conservatives such as the I Opposition was composed of. J { What was the Ministry doing Jit. pro- ! st'iit:" First of ail it was working vi-ty I hard day and night. It had sot up an Education Commission to secure 1 for I education a more practical application. At present we wore training too many clerks and not cnouirli wealth-builders. The him of living was the subject of another Commission. The question was: Has the cost of living advanced ? People. v,,,uld say. Oh. yes! yet he doubted if it had. Professor M'lhyraiih liad found that it would have cost nearlv twice as much to Jive' in. 38-30 as iu 1890-99 on th-s same scale, and from LS99 to the present day the increase in tiie eo't had hern but 3 per cent. Vrimt really had iuefeasod ~ was the standard of living. The luxuries ol' the past age wore tiie necessities of this. Ti:e ma Iter of workers' dwellings was one that was roeeiving inucli attention at present. A man. could obtain, a freehold in such a dwelling bydepositing £lO and paying thereafter 7 per cent. ..on the cost of the. land and the budding. 4 per cent, for inand 3 per cent, sinking fund. This 7 per cent, amounted to only an average rental. There was a demand from the country for laborerssr-and th.o machinery for obviating this shortage, was at hand. The farmer who wanted a laborer had to pay only CI!) to bring ono out from Home, and a' domestic! servant could he brought out at «. cost of t'2 10:-. the Govemmenf" paying the rest. There was also a demand, that the Government' import skilled workers, but be preferred to see two jobs' for one man rather than two men for one, job. He was not going to have skillr-di artisans begging i' ()I . U ork as he. had seen th. m in the past. There were too .many people living in the towns, 52' per cent, ol' the population, and what the Government wanted was to split up by means of the progressive land tax i]vi larger estates. It would be much better to.have large country populations and small estates. He hoped to- sco mr-ii who owned 0-10 acres of first-class land, prevented from purchasing more. This land question was fundamental and affected ovcrvhodv, for all wealth teml.od_t.-i express itself'in land values. He might just mention how the unimproved value of the laud had grown from 92 million;; to iOO millions, and at the same time wages had gone l up To peii cent. Then' the profits of the storekeeper had cocao down, and so bad the rates of interest, from between 7 and 8 per cent, to -U or o.J per cent. What had gone up> The price of land: and they had to prevent the accumulation ■of large estates. They they .proposed to prevent the transfer of land from one man. to another when they would not sign a. declaration such as was required from men who wore, now buying Government land. The day was coming when they would not be able to buy up private land, and they would thus curtail the overreaching hand of wealth. Th.--- Government would nationalise the iron industry at Parnpara. At the present time it cost .£4 10s per ton for pig .iron in New Zealand, but when they got those mines . working they Mould be able to. ship pig iron at :£1 los per ton. At the press I .nt moment the Government was considering negotiations with a large syndicate which -wanted, iti obtain, possession. The only condition oh which it. would he granted it iv.-jg that the Government would he .able to resume at the end of '2') years with compensation, or at fir; < lid. of 40 years .without compensation, and that the Government conk! get a!! the iron if required at .(test price, plus a small percentage.

lii connection with railways, they proposed to increase the ,'iihnrbnii service ;iii(.l 'rtdnce the rates for women :uy) children. Children, ho thought. shTfuld travel cheaply until they were. 1.4 yt ;ir> of ace. Thoy proposed to make the rates ouarter rates. They thought they could develop tho waterpower of the country, which would be most important. Already work in. this direct ion had been started' in' Canterbury, and it was proposed to use electrical power for. the Lvttolto'i-Cbrist-ohnreh line and the workshops, and tho balance would he utilised for industrial requirements.- They would .sell it. to local bodies on such terms as would permit of them disposing of it at 3d per' unit, so that a. man ■could light his hou.se with, electric light, at -Is per montli or less-.

Among nth; r objects the Government had at heart: 'ft hoped to secure- one: clear day's rest- tor all workers; :\\ Bill would he introduced providing better accommodation for shearers and country workers; the pension would, if possible, be -granted to women, at HO, and prison reform- would: lie carefully fostered. There were many tvpes of young men in prison who could bo reformed - with the right treatment, and Mr Hawkins, of i!i,- Liverc-argill, Prison, had estimated that the proportion of the.se was 78 nor o"iit. Four lads and an old man tsvew -t2OO worth of vegetables- at Tiiver.-argill hist season. The system should he reform, not punishment. Of course there were some undesirables who c.:tild_ not he let .adrift to prey on all mankind.

lleferriug to the Opposition party's chances. Mr Laurensou. said Mr Newman, 'M.V.. spsahiug at a meeting tho other night, said I\ir Massey was like -Moses leading his. people- to the Promised Laud, hut Moses never reached the Promised Lend: he, saw.it from afar, and the speaker thought tnat would be. 'the' fate of Mr Massey. 11" heard some vague talk iihour. ; urvuption and wrongdoing, and it had * been said that K-.r Joseph hail got bis 'Take off" o\ tuo £0.000,000 loan. Last session a return had been laid on the tabic'of the House which had accounted lor every item. How could Sir Joseph or anyone else get- their "rake off" r If the government could, only be. attacked by vague charges, nochai'ges .should he mode at ai!. That was a. fair proposition. Mo had been in Parliament for 1:2 years. and had hem impressed with tin- cleanness of the :admini.stration of the country, and while he hr.d been. in. tho Ministry he- had seen no opportunities for a man who wished to steal from the public purse. Mr Massev had. said recently again that the £5.1)00.000 loan cost 7 per- ocijt. This was cither ignorance.ol- something worse, for tho figures were given during bust session 111 detail. "What" the Liberal party- wanted -was not ■ Socialism but progressive Liberalism continuing along the. .same .sound linos-of the past for another 20 years. ilr -P. Miiligan moved: "That- tins, meeting of Oamaru electors tenders to the T-fcu. George Laurensou its warmest thanks for his able, exposition of Liberal principles, and desires to express its ■confidence in tho Liberal Government ] of which he- is. a member. 1 ' The motion was seconded by Mr John Mainland, and declared carried without dissent. Mr Laurensou thanked the meetvng for the hearing given to him a.nd, thy 'kind veto, and moved a vote of thanks t'oitlie Mayor for presiding. Cheers for Mr Laurensou closed .the meeting. . .