HON. J. A. MILLAR AT ELLERSLIE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2809, 15 January 1908, Page 18

HON. J. A. MILLAR AT ELLERSLIE.

EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY. AUCKLAND, January 9. In the course of his speech at Ellerslie last night the Hon. J. A. Millar, Minister of Labour and Marine, said no Ministry would ever please everybody. What they had to do was to carefully consider what was in their opinion the best for the Dominion as a - whole. He thought that was - the .desire of the present Ministry. He believed that was the desire of the great Liberal party of this country, and j although at the present time there seemed j to be apparently a movement for a split i in that "Liberal party, he thought that if j those agitating in that direction would ] carry their memory back a few years and j ask themselves what had been done for i the people of the country by the amalgaJ, mation of the Liberal and Labour parties ' they would find that everything good in this country had been done through the amalgamation of these two parties. They had I had object lessons in Australia and the j Motherland of what they had been, trying Ito force by an Independent party. They had not accomplished there what had been ■j effected in New Zealand by coalition. If "they "looked -at the social conditions of the j people of "New Zealand compared with those outside the country he,- thought they would find v they were a long way ahead.— : (Cheers.) ■ He maintained it was the duty of every party to strive to put legislation in | a state that would give equality of opporj tunity to -every man, and, having given 'that," then it rested with "the individual j himself if he had the ability and the ' application to raise himself to the highest { position. But they should not go further j { than giving equality of opportunity. They j I had io watch experiments that were going ' on throughout the country, to watch thu j ; results of certain legislation and conditions j | in older countries, because they knew that] ' like conditions produced like results, and ' if they found that the experiences of older ] countries had led them into certain chan- i 1 nels not to their advantage it would be ' their duty to prevent anything of that sort j taking place in this country. | j "We want no poverty in this country," , said the Minister. "We know perfectly ' ' well we cannot have an absolutely equal j distribution of weaitK, but we want to make' that distribution as equal as possible j j The happiest, most contented, and pros- i ,-perous country in the world is that- where ' , the wealth is most equally divided through- , out of the country, not where a few hold . ] large moneybags and the re6t a mere t>ittance. - ( A "Voice : And that's New Zealand. The Hon. Mr Millar: Thank God, it is not.- New Zealand gives greater oppori tunities for men than any country I know. It will Be a sorry dSy for us as members of the Ministry if we ever allow any legislation to pass which will in any way curtail those rights which the people of this colony after many years of struggling have j obtained. — (Cheere.) THE GOVERNMENT POLICY. I Some remarks on the present position of political parties in the Dominion, and the suggested possibility of a split between the Labour and Liberal elements of the pre- | sent Ministerial party, were made by the , Hon. J. A. Millar in the course of his speech at the social tendered to him at Ellerelie 'ast evening. Mr Millar said it j I wae not his intention to make a. political ! 1 speech, but as he was the first Minister i who had spoken in Auckland since the late session he might refer to some criticisms r which had been passed regarding the length of the session. He claimed that the Government wae quite justified in putting I through what it believed to be for the good of the country. The present Government had succeeded the late Mr Seddon, the greatest man in New Zealand's political I history. The late Prime Minister had done j a great deal for the country to whioh he had [ devoted his life, but he had left a legacy of work undone which the present Ministry had to take in hand. It was impossible for such important matters as the land, tariff, and Native land questions to be dealt with in a short session of Parliament, and the Government would not have been prepared to go before the country and ask for a renewal of confidence unless it had first "shown the nolicy that it was prepared to carry out. He strongly deprecated anything in the nature of a split between the Liberal and Labour parties. In 1896 a meeting of the Labour party, at which 32 were present, was held, and the question arose as to . who should be the leader of . the party. That question had never been settled to this day. It wae agreed that they could not expect to do much by themselves, and that it was only by a coalition with the Liberal party that they could hope to accomplish reforms. Passing on to the coming elections, Mr Millar said that ere long che country would be called upon to pass its verdict upon the present Administration. Those who believed that the policy of the Government was a right ' one should sink all petty differences and loyally support the men who were selected by the people of the district as the men ksri suit*" l *~ thpir reDresentn-Hvo Ha

was not speaking in an individual sense, but from the broad point of view of the Liberal and Labour, parties. If they wished to lose seats they should start quarrelling amongst themselves, but if they wished to preserve the solidarity of the party they must prevent men from coming in and splitting the votes of the Liberal party. "Let the Opposition," he said, "put up their man, and we will put up ours ; and I have no fear of the result." He was not afraid of a fair fight, and if they were beaten at all it would not be by the 'Opposition, but by men calling themselves Liberals, who were working not for the good of the party, but for themselves, and who were trying to use the party for their own ends. If a man who was not selected by the representatives of the party came forward he- did so in his own interests. He was working for himself, and not for the party, and the party had no right to study such a man as against the party as a whole. — (Applause.)