MR J. ANSTEY AT GEORGETOWN.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLIX, Issue 13914, 15 November 1919, Page 8

MR J. ANSTEY AT GEORGETOWN.

A s-WrV til electors were awaiting Mr -). Air-itcy in Geddes' Hall at Georgetown last/night. Mr John Smillie was ' ottd to the chair, and invited llr Anstcy to render an account of his stewardship of the past five year;- and to give an outline of 1 in> legislation he would foster in the ensuing ttirveMr Anstcy, who received art Attentive, hearing, spoke for WH hours, in v»huh he covered, a gtr.n deal more l groWnd than .w-v- have spacn to reprojviiteo in He _spoke_of the j v Var WeiVisilics responsible lor the ' liirtn iif the coalition, emphasised, '-lie f'4r.l that tlicre had. even a.< lVs birth. Iccii'an agreement tlvil, us purpose achieved with the 'Cessation of the war. the Libera' Tarty should be free to resume. •WiVammelled the progressive polity- )t represented, and denied thai tVat partv had in any way broken faith with the Massey party by resuming its independence. In every State ] there were two parties, wider various : names. Conservative and Progressive Liberals, and it was because pi the fundamental .differences existing 'between them, bv the needs of the c<>untrv alwavs present, but accentuated by the war! that the Libera! leader had been faced to take immediate action to meet the pressing needs oi the times in reserving '.ill connection With tnfe National Government. . . Mr Ans-tev opened with a, reference to'tlw cessation of hostilities-, remarking that they were meeting that night under much happier auspices than when lie opened his election campaign five veavs ago. Failure in the gigantic -tviljHe was too swful to contemplate, and thev had reason to congratulate themselves Upon an ending which assured set-uriiv for the Empire anil lifted the black' clouds from the. horizon. The war had been wtiil, and that glon-. ouslw It wa.* a popular thing a few years ago 10 speak about the decadence of the British race, but mighty England m this supreme moment of her history had "irded her loins with 'old-time vigor, and. helped-by her loyal ■ ch.it dren, .among whom New Zealand occupied no mean place, had risen nobly to - (he occasion and smashed the most redoubtable Foe she had ever met. New Zealand had taken a noble part in the •great struggle: most of her men were native, born, and the "Dominion had. paid the full price in lives and treasure. Whatever might ho the proposals for the futur'. the returned soldiers should have, first consideration in every respect; they were the saviours of the country, and but for their steadfastness and self-sacrifice all tin' wealth we now possessed would be of little value. Generally speaking, the proposals made by the National _Government for the repatriation of our soldiers, and the upkeep of the disabled and their families were worthy, of the occasion, but here and there peeped i out lamentable omissions, some of'which had since been recified, and which wore contrary to the spirit of the legislation passed by a sympathetic House. For instance,, just recently two nurses were refused the help of the Repatriation Department on the ground that they were not soldiers, although they had dono equally meritorious sprvice with the soldiers at the front.- -These women would now be entitled to such help by the recently passed Act covering women's war work. Referring to the Parliamentary rights granted to women, he said they were entirely logical, and he cordially approved of them, though he thought that few women would take advantage of the opportunity to "enter the political arena. But lie expected to see a great increase in the activities of women on Hospital Boards and other public bodies —women who could step into the breach caused by the death of so many men at the, war. Whilt this called for increased fitness and self-re-liance on the part of women of the Dominion it would have a high educative value, hut he was old-fashioned enough to believe and hope that the crown of a woman's life would be found in her presidency over the glorious duties of motherhood. Turning, to the future Mr Anstcy said, that the problems of peace would be found no less difficult in NewNZcabmd than they were being found in ether parts of the world. The Dominion had piled up a- huge debt, such a debt as would have been deemed impossible a. few years ago, There had been an enormous wastage, and they were suffering from a general dislocat'uri. The position must be faced boldly and with the whole-hearted co-ope-ration of every man and woman of goodwill in the Dominion. The chief duty of all. and particularly of t>lu> Government (which the people had now l-ht- opportunity of choosing) was to concentrate on- a definite and sound policy of rebuilding. Suon after the war started it hud been considered necessary that the political parties should co-operate in putting through the necessary legislation. Personally he was opposed to coalitions of this sort, involving as they Uju the sinking of poll? Ileal principles for the purpose of expediency. . Nothing but the critical position of the Empire at the time which made it imperative to subordinate all other interests to the winning of the war had caused him to support the Coalition Government which had been formed. The war being over now the time had come for a new policy—a policy of progressive Liberalism. Some people—and be it noted that it -generally came from the side which, had least chance of occupying the Treasury benches—were loud in their condemnation of party government —a system which had been in vogue in New Zea.la.nd for forty years. Their reason for tin's change of heart was fairly evident. Without parties what w-ould they haver The House would be broken up into lititle cliques joining together for suicidal experiments and log-rolling, and there w r ould be no cohesion, no delined policy to put through, each man's hand would he turned against the' "i her. or members would be bargaining for each others' vote for some local lamp-post Bill. No great reforms could be carried out without party government. The parties for the government of every country fundamentally grouped themselves under' two i headings—Conservatives (be they call-. | ed Reform, pure Government, or what- '. ever name Jmey might choose) on the ene band, "itnd Liberals in their various degrees, on the other. One of the reasons he was addressing them that night w,a.= to show that the policy of the .Reform Party, if Mr Masscv's manifesto could be called a policy, did not meet the needs of the times. " They .judged a man on his merits, and their anticipations of what he was likely to do in the- future were founded upon what he had done in the past. He did not believe in resurrecting the bones of their grandfathers, or the Reform Conservative traditions of twenty-five or thirty years back. But the guiding principles of Reform of. sav, eightyea rs ago, were not dead, nnd it would be fair to compare the policy put forward of' to-day, and see how it had* hern carried out. Eight years ago the Reform policy gave-the right to the, .freehold", 'yet since that time'the mortgages had increased by over 50 per-r-enl... and 10-day 'stood at 150 millions. Land aggregation had set in and- trading in land bought by the Government for settlement was . rife, some of. ther deals. running on the line that the speculator could take the nrofits and the public rould .meet the loss. Then Wicy had the conservation of big estates, and in a word, the position as regards _land had gone back to* the old regime instead of going forward. Civil, service reform was another bit of lerrislation winch was to have established the millennium in the;' Civil Service. The Reform Party set tin Commissioner control, hut it had proved, a failure and was now entirely discredited and' partly superseded. The social patronage of to-day was worso than noliiieal patronage: the growth of red-tapeism and geiici-.il hidehoundness now exceeded all New Zealand's previous attainments in/this respect; and thev'had secured automatic nromotion in the nublie service, based on the length of time served, irrespective of merit. How, under such a system , ■could they look for efficiency or expect departments to he managed in a business way. A boy starter! in a department, remained there all his life, and he had no chance of gaining anything but a one-eyed experience of his particular department. All-round business men of ability were required if they were to achieve the best results. The Reform Party had removed the railwavs' from political control. ■■• and -had imported 3£r Hiley. .at £3OQO per

annum —a man who "'as ignorant of local conditions and who had to leam them at the public expense in time, monev. and a curtailed service. What was the result:- There was no improvement in the running of the t'liilways. and the Depart ltiouriEratTuall.v iteeuiiie. more, bureaucratic and HiiirV nut '>'" touch with ihti n.-iiuirouieiits of the rarilHis districts. They all knew what a mess ha'd been made of things h-y the recent railway ''out" which threw the Dominion buck forty -years in its- railway system and lowered the respect or the Government ; n the eye? "i every person in New Zealand. The rail- •■<■''■ K 'employees were seething with discontent, and to make matters worse there was a pernicious system of oilicial class legislation under which the pay of the higher officials was to be unconscionably high., while the pay of the second * division had been inadequately increased, considering the present cost of living. Another nuich-tuimpeted reform was an elective Legislative Council —a perfect camouflage which had the merit of .succeeding in hoodwinking some of the | people some of the time, This act had now been Irw for several years, but no election had been held Under it: nor would there be itii-V election, for the Council . this time: Three years hence- there cuuitl be an election for halt the Council, 'and six years hence an election for the Other half. But they had this position before them : It would take thirteen years-after tilt} passing of the Act before it became. effective ! That the Act was impractical was admitted by Mr Ma.ssey,: and required recasting before being brought into operation. It was. insincere because it promised something which itdid not intend to give-, and was a typical example of luiuiy of the proposals in the line gi- Reform's dressing." Mr Massey's recent manifesto did not contain one definite promise, but was a mass of platitudes and generalities. Touching finance Mr Anstey said that this'was a dry subject to a great u fairs- people, but it was the duty of everv candidate for Parliamentary- honors to briefly put before the electors the present financial position of the .Dominion, the future commitments, and the mode bv which the revenue should be obtained. Taxation, he said, should be more eonitably levied than nt present and should fall most heavily on those best able to bear it. As far as 1 can. make out. from the figures, said Ml' Anstey, the revenue for the current year is estimated to reach about £23,000,000, and the expenditure will be considerably over £50,000.000, and we are to have at the end of the vcar. according to the Budget, a surplus of £1,300.000. We are told, further, that there will be Vms amount of surplus if the money is not required for n a "great deal of unspecified expenditure. The whole is mystery, and there is no information.- as to the financial position of the country. •t seems that the difference between ""iTie £23,000,000 of revenue and the £50.000,000 of expenditure is made up by the appropriation of the accumulated surpluses of the last three years. The Government proposes to take £14,000,000 of the accumulations and spend it all in the current year, added to which is the proposal to borrow £15,000;000—a total of about £30,000,000: and it is all to bo spent this year. - T contend that the accumulation of £15,000,000 in London during the war really comes out of borrowed money, and if we are going to spend alKthat money tlois year, without making some provision for future years, it seems to me we are going on a wrong basis. During the war we borrowed at the rate el' £20,000,000 a year to carry on the operations of the war. No one wib cavil at borrowing 'money that was necessary to prosecute the war. The war had to be won. and almost anything was justifiable hv that great time. We must not forget, however that fighting has now ceased for nearly a year. and much of the expenditure, must or ought to .have decreased; and vet we are to-day borrowing more monev than we did in any one year while' the war was on. I think that ts a wrong poJicy. It is a policy oi reckless borrowing, .and a scatter-cash policy ' that will enable the country to recover from the wastages of the war. 1 am not opposed to borrowing tor •legitimate objects, but the amount of monev to be borrowed and spent this year means, as far as T can gather, at least £16.000.000, all of which" is to be totally non-productive. T contend that, now the war is over, we thouJd absolutely cease borrowing, except for purposes* that are reproductive. and that expenditure which is not reproductive ought to be provided out of revenue. I think that when we borrow money we ought to discriminate between the purposes for which we borrow. In carrying out. a large system oi public works'it is to import a large portion of the material, and. a* far as borrow fitg money for the material that has to be fetched here is concerned, I do not think there is anything wrong in foreign borrowing. But a great portion of .the expenditure on our public works is on local labor, and. most of the material is locally produced.* and I believe that every penny required for carrying on any public works that can be provided within the Dominion ought to be provided for by locally borrowed money. T know the old idea we had with regard to local borrowing was that if we borrowed money locally the country would soon become bankrupt. Now. during the war we have borrowed locally an immense sum of money —something like, fifty or sixty millions. I believe—and so "far from" bringing the country to anything like bankruptcy, money is more plentiful than it has ever been. Tt seems to mc that there is really no "limit to the amount of money that can be borrowed locally, provided it is spent roproductively and will produce a fair return. Dealing with the question of nationMr Anstey if you are going to nationalise the coal mines it will be necessary to bring in a number of practical coal miners in order to carrv out such a proposal successfully. It will be no use leaving it to the present departmental officers. Tt has also been proposed that the State should nationalise the flour-milling industry. To mv mind, it is extremely doubtful if the- State could manage such an industry anything like so economically or well as it is managed by the' present private owners. In any case, the amount saved would- be so trifling as to be hardly wort* bothering about. Tf the State wants to go in for nationalising there are.-directions in which it can be done ten tim6s better than by tinkering with Hour-mills. Take the matter of"insurance. That is a purely socialistic undertaking, and one that tinState could and should undertake. Everv one knows that accident insurance is a perfect gift to 'the capitalist companies. No capital is required for it. as the Whole money to carry on the business is paid by the premiums, and paid before the expenditure is incurred. There is no need to bring in insurance companies to carry on business of that kind. The amount paid in premiums is more than double the benefit people : who get injured receive: and it- seems to ntc to be--an enormous wastage to band over £150.006 to £200,000 per annum to insurance companies over j and above the benet-fi-s returned by them on accident insurance, an amount which could be saved If the Government made it a Government monopoly. Jt should be made a national concern, and there should l>c no premiums, an amount in lieu of premiums being appropriated froro. the Consolidated Fund. Every workman' would be automatically insured, and, payment in ease of accident should bo'.differentiated as 1 between the married and the, single man. That is an important point in connection with accident insurance, but it never can be obtained by private insurance. To a. married man who meets with an accident it is more loss to his dependants-than it is to hjmself. A single man who meets with an accident goes to a hospital, where he gets the best attention, whether he pays for it or not. The case of the married man is a niuch more serious question altogether. Supposing be'does get compensation, he has "to be laid aside. He may go to the hospital and get nursing and attendance, for"which he may be called on to pay: and f think the experience of most Hospital Boards is that when they call on patients to pay-.it,.is the married men who pay. and in'fhany cases the single men clear out and they hear nothing of thein. But the married man's wife has to be maintained, the children have' to be clothed, and.fed, and the house lias to be '-.maintained, and it means great; Joss ia addition "to

the loss of time. If we had State monopoly of accident insurance a premium income not larger than it is at present would give very liberal allowances to the injured, and'alao to his dependants, iirid still leave a large Mini to the good. It is the >aiiie with live uiMinux.es. If the. State inade a Slitie monopoly of lire insurance, organised l>y municipalities first, with overriding insurance hy the Slate itself. I believe" we could save iiuttdrrd* of thousand- ol pounds—probably £1 .iXli l.ODI) per nun tun —just hv the-'insurance business'on the,-e two lines alone. Tf the Government undertook private enterprise of tin- sort they would do ten times more good bv tinkering with smaller items such as flour-milling and a few others that nave been suggested from lime to time. To mv mind, before we undertake anything like an extended system of public works or expend borrowed moiicv, it seems to me we really wane I to recast our fiscal policy in this Dominion altogether. We cannot go on m the wav v, r c are going now.- In ray opinion. - ' there are about one-third oi the total incomes in this Dominion exempt from taxation altogether. If that is the case, there must- be an enormous overtaxing of the productive section of tin's Dominion, which must often largelv interfere with the productive enterprise in tills country ; and it seems to mu that before we call go in for anv very extensive work of any sort that is the first thing we shall have to do. The same reinarks applyto our policy of iand-settlemcnt, In regard to the policy of the settlement of the soldiers on the land, we llii-ye a proposal to borrow something like £15,000.000. The . borrowing of the monev itself must have the effect of further inflating jaiid values, and be? forc we go in for to* very large ex- J ■ penditure of that sort, we should recast ! the land taxation policy altogther. 1 ' know that some members contend that we ought to increase the graduated tax. There is no use doing so, because, we have, already imposed a heavy taxation on the one section now. The present incidence of taxation doubles thei tax upon the small economic-sized, farm. The owner has to pay the land tax not on the land he actually owns, but upon his debts as well:..while the man who lends his money —assuming he has an income of over £3OO a year —has also to pay a tax upon the land himself, which means si. double taxation of the small farmer, while at the same time the holders of the large estates do not pay anything like their share. Therefore, what we want to do in regard to our land taxation before entering unon any extensive work is to recast the scheme altogether. We should exempt from overtaxation as far as wei can —not- altogether, because all- land will have to pay a fair tax. Then the tax should be graduated, and graduated so steep that it would prevent the man holding the land in undesirable areas unless we have such a system as will force the land en to the market at fair values we trill not gain much, but will be putting inflated values upon the land. It will mean that many of the solcb'ers will have' a rope round their necks that many of them will never get rid of in their lives. This borrowing of money to put the soldiers on the land at excessive values, which they have (to repay, is at the same time putting huge sums of monev into, the coffers of the •already wealthy. Tt is putting into their hands a great deal of war profit, which th'e-v are" hiding away in tax-freo investments. The war profit they are getting out of the lands is put into war bonds, on which they pay no income tax. and thereafter they will pay nothiuc towards the l repair'of the wastages of the war. Such a policy must be disastrous, and T tlu'nk the Government ought .to bring down :\ policy. to adjust these problems before going in for work on any extensive scale. With regard to the hydro-electric schemes, T am very much disappointed that the Government have not gone in for a bolder policy with regard to the extension of the hydro-electric power. To my mind, that system holds out a very fine prospect to big profitable enterprises. The Government is providing this year the small sum of £000.000". Tf we continue to provide for the introduction of hydro-electric schemes on that rate it will take twenty-five to thirty years before we complete the scheme. To "my mind, it is altogether inadequate for such a system as this', which would be almost immediately reproductive. W r e could ensilv afford to spend at least £2.000,000 a. year, and have the; system completed in seven years; and I think it would be qtiite justifiable to borrow anv reasonable sum of money for this purpose. It is estimated that we have lost, in killed or disabled permanently, at, least thirty thousand of the flower of the youth of New Zealand. "You cannot lose sue.h a large number as that without seriously interfering with the labor market, of the Dominion. T firmly believe that the burden of the war with which we are now loaded is becoming almost too heavy for the present population to bear. As a matter of fact, in connection with the matter ■ of borrowing, there are not sufficient men hqge to carry on necessary- public work's, and so it inay bo found difficult to economically expend the money that we may borrow. T believe, therefore, that in conj unction with a. reasonable borrowing policy for reproductive purposes we should devise a carefully considered scheme of immigration from outside. ■ Mr Anstey-next dealt with, the subject of Education, saying: We want an improved system of education —a sounder system. I am, however, very pleased to see that a considerable extra sum is to be voted for educational purposes. What we want is a better class of education than' that existing under our present. system, and money alone will not do that. Our system does not compare favorably with what we had years ago in the Old Country, and of which some of us have had experience. Our methods are more or less superficial, and they do net- result in imparting a sound basic education. There is a general complaint that our young people are being turned out at the age of 1-1 educated, with the result that more money is required for secondary education. We would obtain a much" better education if we omitted a- number of the superfluities now embodied in the syllabus. Whatever system you may have, only a portion of our children will be able to take advantage of secondary education : it therefore behoves us to see that our primary education is sound, useful, and substantial. (Applause.) Dealing with other subjects, Mr Anstey said he was opposed to the creation of a local navy, and approved of Lord Jellicoe's proposals. He advocated experimental farms for seed selection purposes. • He srjdke in opposition to militarism, but said that he approved of real defence training, and the encouragement of rifle shooting. They should have a. small well-paid permanent force.. ' "VfitbTegord to labor, Mr Anstey said that the wage earner, the working farmer, the working business and professional men were all in the same boat, and with interests in common they ortght to pull together against profiteers, aggregators, rings, exploitation, unearned wealth,, incomes. or privileges; He approved of every effort of the wage earner to improve his position and get a.full share of the wealth which he helped to create; but would have no dealings whatever with extremists. M'/st of' the Labor leaders were destructive. He was opposed to strikes, preferring constitutional tb violent methods. The "go-slow" policy he described as dishonest; and said thA't every vote cast for Labor would help the ' so-called Reformers, while every vote cast for Progressive Liberalism would be a vote for moderate Labor, and would accomplish far jiiore for Labor than violent or destructive methods could do. He referred to our added responsibilities as a. result of the war, and said that in taking over Samoa we hod to shoulder our share of the white man's burden. The valuable phosphate deposits in Nauru, were, referred to,* the speaker contending that we ought to get a larger-share.of them, and there should be Government control of the shipping, manufacture, and distribution under the co-operative j system. -Mr Anstey pronounced that- the Conscr va-tive Party had shown itself unequal to the needs'of the time. It was useless in a young progressive country like iNew Zealand, and must be replaced if progress and prosperity were to be attained. Mr Massey's proposals were vague, and he: had no definite policy. What had been mads during

the past session were nearly nil urged bv Liberals and. were grunted as a Kind of death-bed repentance. Sir J as. Allen hud proved as unsuitcd to the needs of the times as his leader. The Budget which he hud brought down live vears ago showed a nominal surplus of £70,000, but this was only accomplished by withholding wages whit'h were due. till after the close of the financial your. lu reality there was a deficit of £75,000. In his financial statement made a few days ago Sir ,)aines said that the increased supplementary works expenditure amounted to £l,-133,000. This wiped out his anticipated surplus and went a million "to tho bad. The .Minister anticipated nowever, that there would bo a. compensation for this in increased revenue, and he expected the accounts to come out about even, by taking the 1:366,000 of butter levy to be returned to the producers, not out of the ordinary revenue,, but out of accumulated surpluses of previous years'. These surpluses had nearly all been appropriated tor expenditure already, and the taking of this £300.000 was tantamount to borrowing money in order that local consumers might get their butter a penny or so per pound less than the market price. It was equivalent to borrowing monev to pay for our daily bread. (Ironical laughter.) Sir James Allen also proposed to withdraw £500,000 set down for useful productive expenditure, in order to wipe out his expected deficit of £420,000. Was this sound finance? Again the Finance Minister had not made any proposal lor iiscal reform, to adjust inequalities of taxation, or for a progressive policy to meet the needs of the times. He condemned the Defence proposal of Sir James Allen, and said' that mih--1 tarism meant self-destruction, as was proved by history, quoting the- records of the Syrian, Grecian, .Roman, and German Empires in support of the statement. Germany, he said, after 40 years of preparation ol a perfect nfclitary machine, had been beaten by what Napoleon contemptuously referred to as a nation of shopkeepers. ' Wliyf 'Because the machine-made fighters had to meet men who loved their homes and were prepared to fight for them and for tho democratic institutions by winch they were surrounded. In any ease, if thev started to prepare for war now. their machines would be obsolete before the next war. All the present war machines were invented during the war. A local navy would be of no use, and ho favored New Zealand providing a unit of the Imperial Navy, with a base in tho Indian Ocean. He also advocated an aerial force, and said that tins could be practically self-supporting by undertaking mercantile work. With regard to the «cominandeer of meat, Mr Anstey said it was understood that negotiations were proceeding for the further commandeering of meat by the Imperial Government, and. that if the commandeer were extended it would be at an increased price of two pence per pound. If the price of mutton advanced by two pence per pound the price of beef would go up in sympathy, and the price of other products would rise in proportion. This would mean an increase in-the cost of living, in production, and in wages, and i prices would go on rising till disaster was reached. They should adopt a policy which he had advocated four years ago, and if they got this extra two pence a-' pound for their meat the Government- should take it and devote it towards the cost of our war obligations, so that the whole community would benefit by it, instead of only a few getting it. Touching soldiers' gratuities, Mr Aiistcy said there were some small inequalities which he would like to see remedied. Wives who had been getting - a allowance should have participated in the gratuity on a basis proportionate to then? allowance. •The"'candidate condemned the piecemeal railway construction policy of the Government, and instanced the Waihao Downs railway, which had been started six vears ago, and wan not finished yet, though-the extension only covered 'five miles. There were 13 lines in the same condition. He proposed'that tin* Public Works Depart-: men I should be abolished. It they had a. live. Hvdro-Eleetric Construction Department", and a live Hallway Construction' Department, the local bodies could i do all else that was required more quickly, better, and cheaper than the Gov=rrira«ifc, provided they wsre frione-

Ed oil suitable terms bv the Cnicinlm.„l. He favored a State Bank, and .aid the State should own »ts .own colliers and the ferry service. Ihe l-ox-cnuneut should have pivy.-in.i-d lie 11)lM -gor between the >. and O. and tin Union; Company. 1 hero should be a much higher graduation than at present in regard Lo death duties, which should be very heavy, so lur a., mheri, - anco duty was .concerned. By this •means there could be a large addition to the revenue. The Government should have let the wheat industry alone, but as things were now they would have to do something to put it on a sound basis. Mother-nurses (women who would do a little work in the house as well as the actual should tie provided for those who could not allord lo employ them, and there should be more maternity homes. Mr Anstev complained of the injustice ol f o\'» tl ' v telephone users having to pay hall the cost ol such conveniences. In regard to hydro-electric schemes bo suggested that n Hydro-kleetrtc Department bo instituted, which, with a qualified Minister and officers, would prevent such examples of deterred hope, as tho Otira tunnel, and would lesson the cost of all electrical works ot a national character while halving the time necessary for their installation under the present Public \\orks Department system. Ho would go further, and suggest that the Paihva.xs be also placed under their own department, and that all public works he. carried out at less cost and in less time than at present by the local bodies concerned, altogether abolishing tin: Public Works Department. Tu response to a query regarding, the wheat position. Mr Anstey said it was a mutter in which he had taken a great deal of interest. New Zealand was ideally situated for its production, but. the dangerous policy of the Government, had driven wheatgrowers into the more profit-able occupations of meat and wool production, which it fostered to the fullest extent. To relv on Australia Xvns suicidal. Droughts there ran in cycles, they might last three years. If we sought wheat now we would have to buy in Canada at 0s 2d n bushel phis '2s to bring it here. Tho Government had squeezed the wheatgrower till the whole position was out of joint, and it would have to put matters straight-, if it could; it would then do well to leave the industry: alone. He wished to say a few words regarding Labor. Ho had noticed, not without complacent pride, that his worthy opponent. Mr Paul, had taken all the salient points of a. paper be had read iu Wellington, and had adopted them as his own policy. In the speaker's opinion, the interests of the workers, anioiig.st whom he counted all (he .smaller wage-earners and business men. should be strongly organised against profiteers, trusts, and aggregators, and should work together. For two previous decades this hud been so. and New Zealand hud then made the greatest progress in its history, rnlorl.iilialely, Labor was now controlled b\ men of extreme view*. His sympathies were with Luhor. but he bad no part nor lot with the extreme section of Labor. It was preaching advanced theories that must forever be Utopian, purely for one class, and was preaching the doctrine of strikes in defiance of the Government. In this count ry wc could not afford to have a Slate within a State defying the State. Every Labor candidate must subscribe to the fenets of the extreme section, so that every vote cast was for extreme proposals, but his vote would be cast for progressive Liberalism and progressive Labor. He had himself been a worker until twelve months ago. He would ask them not to move a vote of confidence'in him. but merely one of thanks. Their confidence could be shown in another way. (Applause.l On the motion of Mr K. Shadwell. seconded by Mr K. Don, a vote ol thanks was 'passed to the speaker. No questions were asked, the impression made by Mr Anstey being most favorable.