THE UNITED PARTY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20958, 22 February 1930, Page 14

THE UNITED PARTY

CAUCUS IN WELLINGTON. PRIME MINISTER ABSENT. .WITHDRAWAL OF MR JENKINS. ■ MOTION OF CONFIDENCE IN LEADER. (Per United Press Association.) WELLINGTON, February 21. ■ A caucus of members • of ; the United Party was held at Parliament House today, and was presided over by the deputy , leader-of the party (Mr. G. W. Forbes), in tlie absence of the Prime Minister, who -fnxi. un( ler health tretament at Rotorua. All the members of the party were present, except Sir Joseph Ward, Mr E. F. Heaiy for Wairau. who is undergoing;treatment at Helensville, following a m health), and the Minister of Defence (Mr Ji G, Cobbe), who is at present Visiting Western Samoa). ' Mr H. R. Jenkins (member for Parpell) made clear his future attitude ' ffr^K Tl I s •n P f rty * declaring that henceforth he will be an Independent membe*or the House, with the reservation that fae will at all 'times assist the Government ,5 lve e “ e ct to its policy as originally ZS ed ‘w 5 t from tha meeting. Mr Jenkins considered that, in- }***■ of , hls changed attitude towards the party, bo should not, sit- and listen or dotes." " r .**•*• (Grey Lynn), accomw by r hl l bec , c , h mat ,Sj a the House, faJff ,T - Broadfoot (Waitomo), also or three minutes before luncneon adjournment. 77Y^t^H C^ of--.-meeting, durwf 5 tbe , reorganisation of the. party ,BCUSSed a^ d a basis for future “S 4 , 1 . 0118 ' aeieed the following ’ “Thlt 1 ??— 8 - 8 earned enthusiastically:— Hu» meeting of the United Party fcff t®. express its sympathy with Sir t ? his .indisposition, and d Pi ea ™ re at' his continued fail V n health and its best wishes speedy recovery. Further, it de- • its entire confidence if tCp"ty.” m 0 MlmSter . and - lead6r AN : INDEPENDENT MEMBER. MR JENKINS’S ATTITUDE. STATEMENT TO THE PRESS. (Per Press Association.! WELLINGTON, February 21. The critical attitude which the United • member for Parnell (Mr H, R, Jenkins) - tiff a 4°P te .d. for; some months past towards Government cul--1 |?’day, m Mr Jenkins’s announcepaTty , ca ? CUB that henceforth re 8 ar ded in the House of D \ VeS as an Independent memA statement in justification of his action : was Jenkins after he had : pcisitlon in the caucus. -'ln making his announcement to a reporter J eakl “ 8 aaid he had hoped tf Sake ' Posed'to dfaitionof the coumehepr^ : electors, Rut this ha ™ p^sibk hecause he had Rad only, two days’ notice ' cua >hea he was recoT,eP?% from indisposition. :L have received hundreds of congratu{atory messagee from-all ovfir New Zealand upon the stand which I have taken to the ,party,” said Mr Jen- ' eier thaf l> l L a T n ’n mor( i convinced . than ever mat what I have done is right. I anaounce that henceforth, and until - Such time as a fresh party can be formed, , embracing the best elements of oHfi Hmted Patties, and posmembers, which will tlle .House hack .to the .two-party system,, and prevent the country drifting ' +L S fn£l lSm .; my lot with tit tbe action I am taking is in the beet interests of the country, and my mfft Judgment .leads me to this decision. Minifeteg definitely stated through the press dhat he would attend •, to-day’s pariy, conference, although many people thought, that his health'would not permit of his; doing so. He did not attend, and although the deputy leader of tfae .party, made excuses tor the Prime Minister, my own opinion is that he is , attendance owing to the ■ condition ot his ..health, and I believe that will be the opinion of, the people of New Zealand. How . can a .sick man do justice to the . many portfolios which Sir Joseph' Ward hclde? ; The responsibility of the Min--18y?r-of Finance alone requires that he should be a very fit and able man. The . raising;of money'at SJ'per cent, in New Aeiland is a sufficient indication .to me, either that Re ■ is > not . conversant with the . position; and the results whichmust ensue, ’or he is too sick to attend to his duties, . leaving them to departmental heads. As a party we have denounced control of the country by departmental Reads, but what; do we find to-day? They are in greater, power, possibly; than ever. What with the Prime Minister in his poor state of health, ; and some departments being .under the control of inexperienced ministers,, I am of the opinion that the winter we are facing will be one of the worst New Zealand -has experienced for paaay j years. Dear money has been caused, and the bank rate is being in- . We are faced-'with a slump in wool values, and wool'growers are not in \ a position to get ready and cheap finance from the banks owing to the Governments demands. I feel that the Government, has not, followed the land settler men b policy laid . down by members of the party prior to the general election. It haa ,devoted too much time in capital ’expenditure and ■ tbe purchase of large estates, and not sufficient time to the bringing in of unproductive Crown lands. H has . progressed’ with a railway policy which is totally unpopular throughout the country, and is attempting to absorb unemplqyed; labour' on those works instead . of using' it in connection with the breaking in of undeveloped Crown ■ lands, i sitting on. the Independent benches, said Mr Jenkins, “I will assist the Government at all times to. carry out its policy as originally drafted, and I shall remain Independent until such time as a good, strong two-party system can be , evolved in the House. I am "not-desirous of expediting an election, for I feel the . position would not be very materiallyaltered, one way or the other. I am of the opinion that' the three-party system has failed, and I am hopeful that through ■ my. attitude the Reform -and United numbers -may be brought together.” x MR, WILKINSON’S DECLARATION. ; ' \ STILL AN INDEPENDENT. ' (Per United Press Assocution.) WELLINGTON, February 21. “I am an Independent still and will consider , every question upon its merits, irrespective of party considerations,” said : Mr C. A. Wilkinson (member for Earnout), when asked whether there was any truth, in ihniours that there was a / likelihood of his joining the United ■I Party. “The state of health of the Leader of the United. Party,” Re said, “is such that the Government must be seriously weakened in administrative action, especially where important decisions regarding the welfare of the country have to be made. No one regrets Sir Joseph s state of health more than I do, but . it must be surely understood that the position of Prime Minister should be held by a man in a good state of health with a full supply of energy. How Sir Joseph can look forward to facing the next session I cannot understand. It is ..possible, of course, that Sir Joseph may elect to represent New Zealand at the forthcoming Imperial. Conference and , thus escape to some extent the hard labour of the coining session. I feel that no one could do greater justice to New Zealand at the conference than the right honourable gentleman. Apparently no change of Government can be made until , the House decides, and then of course there is always the possibility of an election. F am frankly in opposition to the Government on many questions, particularly in: regard to its railway construction policy—a policy, that is being pushed forward, regardless : of plain in- - dications, .not . i nnlv. in . Xew Zea-

land, but ail over tbs world, that raili? re no J ; they used to be, and that heavy, losses are likely to continue ??• ae * ua;l, y increase. The South Island Mam Trunk line,, now being pushed forward, will, in my opinion, be a disastrous proposition. The Samoan position is one TT-i , cannot endorse. The present United Party policy in Samoa is strictly the policy of the Reform Party, and there is evidently a great deal too much militarism, both passive and active. Military me .n, in my opinion, should not be appointed as administrators in Samoa.” Dealing with the land .tax, Mr Wilkinson considered that the only proper and sensible method of taxation was to tax profats, according to scale, when these profits were actually .made and determined. My view is that the land and all producing activities should be kept tree as possible from direct taxation,” said Mr Wilkinson. “ When I see a 111 sl Snt with views corresponding with my own I will be only too ready to co-operate in the fullest possible way ” '‘s“e present, COU W only co?S? r +k* in j °®S “eagres.he considered * e *!. ood country, no matter what party introduced them.

MESSAGE FROM PRIME MINISTER.

“PREPARIj FOR EVENTUALITIES.”

(Per United Association.) ip, .WELLINGTON, - February 21. Ifae following message was sent by the Prime Mimster. from Rotorua to themeetthe United Political Party:— it was my full intention to preside over this meeting to-day, but many of P arty !? ave strongly urged that I should remain at Rotorua tor. some little time longer in order to derive the fullest benefit from the treatm undergoing, and not risk thepossibihty of a setback at this juncture by undertaking the long train'jour- *<> Wellington. I am glad to be able to tell you that I am making steady progress,, towards recovery; and all being well, I look forward to taking my place actively once more, amongst you at no distant date. In the meantime- I desire to .acknowledge gratefully the sympathy and consideration which have been extended to me by members of the party and by hosts of other friends in the country during my indisposition. Especially I wish to thank my colleagues fqr their loyal co-operation throughout a difficult period, and to express my appreciation of the splendid manner in wßich they and the parliamentary members of the partv have risen to the occasion. The object of your meeting is to have a free and full, discussion of all matters affecting the welfare and prosperity of the party, particularly the placing of the future of the organisation on a solid and satisfactory footing. The question of organisation Is naturally one of the greatest, importance, and demands your {consideration. It is absolutely essential to be prepared for eventualities, and although I do not think the great majority of the people desire a general election before the end of the present Parliament, still, in the existing state of parties, we must not ignore the possibility, qlthough remote. The record .of the Government to date is, in my opinion, a highly creditable one, and shows ,an. earnest, and. I think successful, endeavour to give effect to the policy, of the election platform of 1928. I may mention briefly - the putting of the public financies into order; the pulling up of the large volume of areas in the_ State Advances Department, and providing the necessary funds for an active policy in this direction for settlers and workers; making provision by legislation for. closer settlement, which is now in operation, and the practical handling of unemployment, ’ It is the Government’s intention to continue on' sound p’-egressive and liberal lines, and in doing so we hope we shall be able to command and retain not only your loyal support and assistance,'but also to attract an ever increasing body of. BUpporters in tbe community generally. I send you all my best wishesfor a profitable and useful conference, and I shall be most happy to give 4 my sympathetic consideration to any proposals or suggestions which you may deem desirable and which will be conveyed to me personally by Mr Forbes.” THE UNEMPLOYMENT ISSUE. MR FLETCHER SPEAKS OUT; SUPPORTED, BY HIS COMMITTEES. (Per United Press Association,) WT , WELLINGTON, February 21. I do not desire any further invitation to party caucuses,” said Mr Fletcher after tfaa proceedings to-day. Mr Fletcher explained that he Rad not severed all con™th. the United Party, aa he still upheld the ideals formulated at the conference of candidates. He had adhered Sj ideals dn^his election campaign. —■ lS , a-ttitude, he said, was fully supported by all his committees in his electprate. He was particularly supported m his stand regarding unemployment. His [f ’ O ," 5 ] for ls .. Position were based on °L the , Minister of Lands to put the party s land programme into S! 1^,sa Pproval of the continued +11 5 °t Jarge estates at high prices, stat'dW officials in-’ +h* r 7 Ministers., He also objected wf ,® overn ?ient’s policy in Samoa Mr Fletcher , added that the handling ofthe unemployment problem was the greataause of dissatisfaction. He proposed ? If a comprehensive statement withSUr +iT Wb, giving his views on the way to.tackle the questipn.