THE RIVAL LEADERS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14378, 23 November 1908, Page 5

THE RIVAL LEADERS.

A SPEECH'AND A REJOINDER. MR MASSEY AT WANOANUI. (Pin United Press Association) WANGAN 01, November 22. .. Mr Massey; Leader of the Opposition, addressed an.overflowing audience in the Drill Half on Saturday night. He was accorded ' an enthusiastic reception, and was loudly cheered at the conclusion. His speech was much on the lines of those delivered at other centres. Speaking of the election, lie said that the result of the first ballot and the anticipated result of the second ballot showed that the country appreciated the good hard work done by the Opposition-during the past three years. He.urged that there had never been a time when it was more necessary that the Opposition should be strong. , He strongly defended himself and hisparty from-the newspaper attacks, and showed by reference to Hansard that the Opposition had .played a leading part in the introduction and passing into law of legislation that had proved beneficial to the Dominion: He had consistently supported Mr John Balance's policy of non-borrowing and self-reliance.- He protested against Sir J. G, Ward's references 16 the wages paid during the relief works between 1887' and 1890, and pointed out that' Mr Atkinson had had to do _ the best he could with the legacy which -the' previous reckless Government had. left, lie pointed out that the late Mr Seddon endorsed the relief works wages. Mr Massey dealt seriatim with the planks of the Opposition platform on the lines already published. THE -PRIME'MINISTER INTER- ' 'VIEWED,/ REPLY TO MR MASSEY. * [Br Tki.eghapii.] ' _ WELLINGTON, 'November 22. Sir Joseph Ward, in the course of an interview this evening, on the speecli delivered by the Leader of the Opposition at Wanganui; said that Mr ■ Mas'scy's utterances'were in. some respects extraordinary, He (Mr Massey) had made many • misrepresentations concerning the Government, and. its /policy at 'various times, but upon' this occasion he had quite surpassed 'himself' and had outheroded Herod; The speech contained .misrepresentations/and misleading suggestions, which, were, to say the least, 'm sonie instances very-unfair. The Prime Minister said he would deal with the important statements, seriatim. Mr Massey; ."'declared that the Opposition was now. stronger than ever, and that the Government, .majority had. been reduced. To that his reply was that the total vote cast for the Government throughout the Dominion was 234,952, and the total vote cast for: the' Opposition 102,143. In other words, the Government vote exceeded the Opposition ...vote, over the Dominion by 154. per cent. The Government vote had increased by 14,846 and the' Opposition vote had .'decreased by nearly 18,000 since the last general election.- As a significant index of the decline of the confidence of the people in the Opposition, they had (the tact that in the Auckland province, excluding Gjsbome, the : Government vote had increased over that' cast last general election by over 12,000, w'hile the Opposition note in the same province! which had been termed Mr Massoy's stronghold, had decreased by 11,000. ; Would Mr Massey explain this, aiid did it agree with his statement that the Government majority hud been everywhere reduced ? Mr Massey reiterated.the old cry of "Spoils to,the victors,", and declared that unless the Government candidates were returned the districts would not-, get a fairshai'o of the public moneys.' Courtesy did not permit this statement to be called by its proper j'nnme, It ..was absolutely inaccurate, and every member of Parliament know, and Mr Massey knew, that'some of his own prominent followers had urged up the. electors as a reason for their being re-elected that their electorate had received from ' the Government more money for public works than districts "represented by by Government supporters. This statement hits been made time, and again, and hath as often been completely answered and refuted, and 'was now 'reiterated with tho intention of misleading the people on the eve of the second ballot. The fact was, -itwas well Mown! that t!io Government had consistently looked after the general _ requirements of all.portions, of the Dominion, and it was significant and conclusive proof of th!fi that} Mr Massey gave not one single instance in verification' of the reckless charge he made v Mr Massey imputed the shabby charge against the members of the Government of having printed ' at tho Government Printing-Office election literature at- the expense df the country. One could not refrain from saying that'this was absolutely without in fact. The Prime Minister-said that one of his speeches was printed' during the session/ (just as any, other • member of the House might have his speeches printed at! the Government Printing Office at his own private cost iit (he''ordinary wayl, but none.' of the. election literature to' wlyich Mr Massey-.referredWas printed at the Government. Printing Office, .of at the expense of Him country there or elsewhere. . Mr Massey declared' that no; man had- done more for developing land for settlement than he, and that he knew how necessary it jvas that the settlors shonld'have cheap .money, and offered to support proposals to that' end under certain conditions. Did ho join .in.-supporting-the late Sir''"John M'Kenxic when lie.'to fighting the large lamkdi monopoly in- this country? On the contrary; : he bitterly resisted ' the provision for the compulsory acquisition of large estates-a provision 'which the late sir John M'Kenzie declared was absolutely, essential to the promotion of his land settlement scheme, and'without which hundreds of families comfortably settled in Hawked Bay would not have been there, and the large areas would still have remained iii single holdings as before. Was this the work of a friend of closer settlement? As regards the statement that it was necessary for the settlers to have cheap, money and (hat lie offered to support proposals in that direction, he surely assumed, that his hearers ' hadl short memories. ■ He opposed the Advances to Settlers Bill at various stages, and'called the system "State pawnbroking." He urged that the rate of interest charged to the-settlers should be increased,by°i per cent, beyond the proposal of the 'Government. He also urged that the advances, instead of being made two-thirds of the security offered, should be reduced to half the value of the security; and urged! that the total amount to bo advanced to settlers should be reduced to a minimum, which would havo been absolutely useless to them. Mr Massey declared'that he had always supported Mr John Ballance's selfreliant policy. Would this statement hear examination? It inferred that the late Mr Bnllnncc decided Mot to further borrow, and this, to'the knowledge of his colleagues, was not so, and to any commonsense person in the country must- be recognised to be contrary to possibility. This would be ridiculous, for the reason that this was a young country as yet undeveloped, and such a policy would have meant, practically speaking, permanent stagnation and the continuance of the large land monopoly which existed at the time of Mr Ballance's death. Further, Mr Massey had, either from inconsistency or insincerity, voted for loans for public works'expenditure regularly, and urged that large sums ( of borrowed money should be spent iii his own district anil elsewhere on additional railways. Mr Massey's taunt that we had to go back 15 years to find a joint in the Opposition | armour overlooked thfe fact that in 1898 he and tho Opposition resisted with all their might such a beneficent measure as" the Old-ace Pensions Act, and they had consistently since that either, directly or by some indirect'and insidious means attempted lb block and defeat many of the progressive, measures which the Government had introduced right up to the present time. ;. The administration of the Agricultural Department -was attacked, by Mr Massey. This, of course, was intended to be "a reflection upon the Hon, R. M'Nab, who, Mr Massey must know, was one of the most industrious rind nninstaking administrators that public life had seen. The Agricultural Department had become really the liptlmaiden of, all branches of

farming in New Zealand. The money spent lo create this splendidly-equipped, organised, educative, and instructive department in the interests of the farmers had increased by 300 per cent,, so that to-day Mew Zealand was spending to nclp the fanners more ' money per nead '.of population Hum any other country in Die world. Jt could not be said that the Opposition mismanaged the Agricultural Department, for the simple reason that in (heir day there was no such department in existence,' and there probably never would have been bad it continued in power. Mr Massey repeated his dreary cry that the Government had no policy, although be (Sir J. G; Ward) had repeatedly pointed out that among a number of proposed measures there were two which, in importance and usefulness, constituted one of the most progressive policies any Government had had in New Zealand—namely, the land settlement finance scheme,, which would enable an unlimited number lo obtain freehold farms from the larger owners by means of a State guarantee of the whole of the purchase money. Nothing so progressive or important as this had yet been attempted in New Zealand, and it was, except to adverse critics like Mr Massey, one of the biggest things that had ever been proposed in the interests of future settlers of the jDominion. Secondly, there was the national annuities scheme, under which for the payment of a very small sum weekly or monthly the workers of New Zealand would not only obtain an annuity of £2 per week to make comfortable their declining years, /but would be siv'en substantial'"relief should they be Incapaeitx-ited by sickness or accident, the relief taking the shape of a payment of 7s 6d per week for ei/ii .child under 14, and a similar measure of relief to the wife. This was but a mero skeleton of what these important proposals contained. These proposals would be passed next .sces'ion. Theso were but the two of tlus main bills constituting the Government policy. Mr Massey declared that the Government proposals "had never been approved, but Mr Massey, although always' showing an ill-disguised liking for the "different important bills wlrich the Government had introduced, had himself been compelled to .support a number of them. More important was the fact that now that these measures have been before the country the people of the Dominion had declared their continued confidence in the Guvorriinent by a vote 134 per cent, greater in point of numbers than that of the Opposition.' Possibly 'even Mr Massey would admit that the final judges were the people. Everything connected with finance witej according to Mr Massey, hidden from the country, and he eaid< he wanted reform in the system of audit. He (Sir. J. .G'. Ward) had already introduced into Parliament and circulated throughout- 'the country a bill providing for a greatly; im> proved system of audit under a post audit system, which, when passed, Would provide that every detail.of the public expenditure of the Dominion and the-names of the persons to whom the amounts were paid should be placed on the table of the House for the criticism of members. He fully expected to find Mr Maseey opposing this wlieft the time came. As for the statement thaf everything connected with finance was hidden from the country', this was Mr Massey's usual'method of making a vague charge without a suggestion of detail. No information,was withheld, and more information in detail was-given;by the present Government than had ever; been given by any previous Administration. Mr,JJna?ey stated that appointments were made to the civil service by political influence .rather than by the test'of fitness, and that the sons and daughters of poor men were unable to get positions. This was » ludicrous misstatement. Firstly, the Civil Service Act, Was more strictly administered now than it had), ever been before/in this country, and. all those'who were qualified by pn fi sihg their examinations were offered an appointment in their turn .without reference to the Minuter at all, and certainly, without any political, interference. He challenged Mr Massey' to deny that more soiis ami daughters of poor men now found a place 7 in our public ser.yice than before, because,the test was by brainsand not. bjr influence. If a contrast eie made between the .present time and the days when the Conservative Government was in power, it would be found that '' .hIT" n " ™J !arkcd . b - v ' tl,e - filct that mute a Conservative regime the sons and ev S? of / 00l V*» en *ere consistently excluded,- and preference given to tlini who had Conservative wet .g™>|.Hoh.dnol,feßi ta tioni„. B tliat if a board was set up such 'n tli» Opposition desired, they ZIK ve t J ege.'nnd political influence through the board! and the e ons; and daiirifi. 3 Poorer parents would' bo treatedT the same way as they were before Mr Massey said the Government had made thl eehoid impossibly by setting apart hal He° SIT? r KIS , aß , a » ati «''«l endowm He ca led this land nationalisation. This was plainly nonsense.. % progl Male eet apart a portion of its Crown ton Every StateMn America had done so. hi, Go ™. ent 'H not set ai»rt alinger proportion, than nearly all the progressive democratic countries. There had been absolutely no 'interference with the freehold; in point of Act, the' Government had increased the facilities for obtaining it, and had not reduced them. Laud nationalisation had become a nonsensical parrot-cry with Mr Massey, and he had forgotten any elementary' knowledge lie ever hadi of its true meaning. The claim for credit for improving the Aibitration Act made- by Mr Massey. was exceedingly eumiciil. \Yno so much as he had voiced 'his opposition to compulsory arbitration, and bad shown himself altogether behind the day of this legislation. Uur industrial arbitration system would be. simply useless without -Hie arbitration wlhich Mr Mnasey opposed. The claim he made of having set us "the councils of conciliation was perhaps the collest piece of political audacity he baa yet attempted, iie had no more to do with these'-council; than ho.had to do with tlio passing of the Old-age Pensions Act. | His condemnation of the second ballot was.a little unfortunate for himself in the I light of what had happened. Without the second ballot 20 members in tile coming Parliament would have been appointed by a minority vote—that is, nearly a third of the" members of the House would have been returned in opposition to the democratic principle that the - majority shouln be represented and the majority should rule. The only purpose the Government had in passing the second ballot to promote 'and preserve this basic principle of democracy. .As regards the r 'gag" clause Mr Massey illustrated his peculiar inconsistency. He declared before this clause was suggested at all that Ministers would occupy the interval between the first and second ballot by interfering'in the election, and it was to meet this criticism that he (Sir J. G. Ward) offeree to introduce the clauses preventing' such interference, and, further, preventing further speeches or newspaper comment, This provision was abandoned, and now Mr Massey showed himself to be the first offender in interfering in tho electorates between the first and second ballots. He (tho Prime Minister) had since Tuesday 1 last consistently refused to speak, although frequently asked, but Mr Massey sought to secure an unfair advantage by interfering at the last moment in Wanganui and Hawke's Bay, delivering speeches, at Sai hour when he thought it would'be'impossible for him (Sir J. G. -Word) to correct.llls misstatements and misrepresentations, All this provoked a curious comment upon 'us sincerity and fair play. As regards the effect of the second ballot upon organised labour. Sir Joseph pointed out that the only chance organised labour had had in the present elections had been duo''to the second ballot it6eif-4wmely, at Gisborae and in Wellington East. Mr Massey- referred triumphantly to his connection with the Knights of Labour 15 years ago. It was indeed a strange reflection that one who was a friend of the Knights cf. Labour should have resisted, as Mr Massey did, the Land for Settlemerito Act, Advances'to Settlors Act, the Oldage Pensions Act, and other measures which were directly concerned in the interests of the farmers and the workers, and also that he should have opposed therepeal of the Railway Commissioners Act.. Hie references to. -hig :.connfictioD*.jratlfc,iiii'

—w*m^— i i'ii , i wa workers' homes scheme were entirely mi' 6« leading and unfair! His attempt to embitter tlio timber workers was exceeding unfair party tactics. The statement that tho Government had subsidised a ■ -. ship to bring timber to New Zealand to compete with our own wo., ts was-de-liberately misleading and conUi.w to fact. The steamers coming to New Zealand from Canada were subsidised entirely, by Canada. '\ye paid our subsidy from Ncw Zealaiid chiefly to assist our farmers. Our subsidy had only 10 months to run. Ho had already publicly stated that a, commission would lie set up to'inquire into . the whole timber question and to ascertain, the facts, so that tho Government might decide what was the proper thing to do in .the best interests of the whole ofl the people. Tho cost of timber now inmany parts of New Zealand was so high that-men of small means could hot build l homes, and the Government wonted to find out whether there was a remedy, as , he recognised thaHfie sawmilling industry ' must be helped. The statement that-the '"' taxation per head had increased fronv £3' 9s 5d to £5 ftj 4d was repeated by Mr . Massey, who knew that it was utterly disingenuous. The taxation jier head has actually decreased 30 per cent., owing to' the reduction in Customs" duties on the necessaries of life. The increased taxation was a- tax mainly upon the largest income' and Upon tlio largest estates, following tho i proper canons of taxation-namely, increas-' ling the burden according to the ability.-to--" pay., Mr Massey referred to the manner in. which, the general election had been conducted by tho Government, claiming that the Opposition had followed clean methods-While-the Government had followed what he plledi dirty methods. ' This state- : rnent was .absolutely contrary " W lnct: lhe speaker defied Mr Masse? or. anyone else in any part'of /the Dominion to give a single instance' ofi ' any member of the Government either- : doing anytmtig unfair or asking■'.anyon* : - f e 'w°*>, do , 80 '. ' Thß Government had) 1 fought the elections cleanly and honeStly,and. it. he found it necessary in order t» remain m public lifeHo adopt the tactics and methods /followed by some of the Opposition'party he would prefer to go out of public life altogether rather -thatf-' so degrade himself. .■./•,.. •

It was unfortunate that the same, regrettable statements suggesting weakness in our financial, position should again : be' niade by the Leader of the Opposition.. "■:.. The Prime Minister's opinion was' that' the people had reason to, be thankful that our public finance was so strong,' -■■•" and it was so in the teeth of a, continuous-; . effort made by the Government's,'-oppo- ' nents to prejudice the position. It .cer-' tainly was not the fault of the Govern- . ment's opponents that they had not'succeeded in weakening tho position. 'Bome> of them, had tried hard enough to'do/ifc-.' by suggestive innuendo, accusation^'an*:; misrepresentation. | ... .- : .>■■/:■