THE NATIONAL PARTY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23511, 27 May 1938, Page 7

THE NATIONAL PARTY

DUNEDIN NORTH ELECTORATE MR A. S. FALCONER SELECTED A BRIEF OUTLINE OF POLICY A largely-attended meeting of National Party supporters in the Returned Soldiers’ Association club rooms last night unanimously selected Mr A. ,S. Falconer as the official candidate for the Dunedin North seal at the general elections to be held later in the year. Mr C. B. Barrowdough presided, and the resolution naming the candidate was moved by Mr J M. White and seconded by Mr D A. Solomon, both of whom referred to the many qualities which fitted Mr Falconer for the honour of representation of the electorate in Parliament. Mr Falconer, who was enthusiastically received, said he was no stranger to Dunedin North electors, but he was glad to meet his many friends again. Thanking them for the confidence reposed in him, he said that he realised that grave responsibilities rested on

the shoulders of candidates for parliamentary honours at this particular stage of New Zealand’s political history. There were at the present time political and economic problems awaiting solution which called for the greatest care and the most serious effort. In the past New Zealand had had good Governments built up on truly British principles, and it had mattered little what their political colour had been—Whig or Tory, Liberal or Conservative —they had all followed the general principle of democratic government. In 1935, however, the people had voted for a change, and now they had a Government avowedly Socialistic and pledged to go the full distance. What exactly did this “full distance” mean? It meant the building up of the Socialist structure on the ruins of existing systems and traditions, a serious rupture between employees and employers, and the destruction of all means and opportunities for the exercise of personal enterprise and individual effort. The issue before the electors was a clear-cut one, Mr Falconer said. It was Socialism or Democracy. There could be no compromise, no splitting of straws. Either the electors were for or against Socialism, and he would remind them that more than ever before the electors were the trustees of British privileges and British traditions. Their job was to hand those privileges and traditions on to posterity intact, and if they did not use every effort to see that that was done, they could no longer call themselves Britishers. Were they going to submit to a State ownership of business and the State employment of all labour? Was it to be regimentation or freedom? That was what they had to decide, and they should not forget that Socialism in whatever form it reared its ugly head was foreign to British ideals and traditions, The speaker admitted that there was virtue and desirability in much of the legislation passed by the Socialist Government. but he emphasised that none of that legislation had been opposed by the Opposition. Moreover, he could assure them that when the National Party policy was made known in its entirety it would surprise the country Generally speaking, it aimed at the restoration of goodwill as between all sections of the community, and was designed to give every consideration to the worker provided he was willing to accept the responsibilities of his position. It would insist on the maintenance of cordial Imperial relations and insist on a proper recognition of New Zealand’s liability in the matter of Imperial defence. Co-operation between town and country would be an important plank in the platform, and family welfare, including the encouraging of an increased birth rate, would also receive due consideration Taxation at the present time was staggering and it would be the aim of the National Party to reduce this to a level no higher than what was required for efficient administration. The absorption of the unemployed into useful industry would be one of the first concerns of the party reversing the past policy of driving men away from such necessarv employment. In conclusion the candidate thanked the meeting for the evidences of confidence it had displayed that night, and suggested that such a gathering was an important step on the road hi victory at the elections. Mr J. G. Jeffery in a brief address commended the candidate to the meeting

Mr Alexander Smith Falconer, National Government candidate for Dunedin North, who was born at MosI'iel, had a distinguished war record He left Port Chalmers with the Main Body of the Otago Regiment in September 1914 with the rank of sergeant, and was commissioned as second lieutenanl at Gallipoli in May of the following year, eventually -becoming brigade major of the 2nd New Zealand Infantry Brigade He was awarded the D.S.O. and M.C., and was twice mentioned in despatches. On his return from the war he continued to take an interest in military training serving with the Otago and Southland Regiments. the former of which he commanded for five years with the rank of lieutenant-colonel before being transferred to the reserve of officers On his return from the war he was engaged in farming in the Ashley Downs district. South Otago and after he had sold his property in 1923 he was employed for four vears by the Yorkshire Insurance Company in Dunedin For the past 11 years he has been in business on his own account as a retail tobacconist He is a foundation member and a past president of Toe H (Dunedin branch) and was an executive member and oast president of the Dunedin Returned Soldiers' Association. At the present time he is president of the Dunedin Retail Tobacconists and Hairdressers' Association, and an executive member of the New Zealand Retail Tobacconists and Hairdressers’ Federation Mr Falconer unsuccessfully contested the Dunedin North seat against the sitting member. Mr J. W. Munro at the general election in 1935