THE PARNELL SEAT.

Otago Witness, Issue 3004, 11 October 1911, Page 38

THE PARNELL SEAT.

SPEECH BY SIR J. G. FINDLAY. AUCKLAND, October 9. ' Sir John Findlay, the Government candidate for Parnell, opened his campaign tonight. Thero was a large attendance, a large number of people being unable to obtain admission. The Mayor of Parnell (Mr R. A. Briggs) presided. On Sir John appearing on the platform he was greeted with prolonged applause mingled with hoots. In referring to the references that had been made on the part of his being an outsider, he said he was a native of New Zealand, and the fellowcitizens of all New Zealandois. He hoped to be treated in t'hat spirit, and not as an intruding alien. He had worked in the Legislative Council for the last five years as a Minister, and he did not think that his labour had been devoid of good results, but he felt that in a democracy a public man's authority and influence, if it were t) be effective, should be based directly on the will of the people.—(Applause.) He stood for what he believed to be the cardinal principles of progressive Liberalism, v. hich might bo divided into the following seven heads: —(1) For the landless, access to land with security of tenure and in living areas; (2) for men without money, access to capital at the lowest rates and on the easiest terms that the State could provide ; (3) for all, access to transportation and communication by road, railway, and other means for produce, persons, and business exchanges at charges as low as would leave the State without loss; (4) wherever possible access to electrical power, light, and heat for industrial and domestic purposes at - the lowest rates at which the State could furnish these needs ; (5) access to life., accident, invalidity, and unemployment insurance on the most reasonable terms possible ; (6) equality of access to justice for all, so that wealth should- have no advantages over poverty; (7) access to education free from the primary school to the university. There should also be provision for the future for the weak, helpless, and aged. In regard to access to justice, he said: the Government was now considering a sclieme for providnsr defendants in proper cases, both civil and criminal, with qulified counsel. In reference to the Arbitration Court, Sir John said that that court today got more kicks than compliments, but he appealed to the strong militant unions to think what it had done for all classes of workers, increasing their wages, he maintained, by ; 50 per- cent., and in some cases 100 per cent, and 200 per cent., and so lifting them from a pinching or starvation wage to one of reasonable subsistence. If the present system could be improved so us to satisfy reasonable critics they should try to improve it. If it could not' be improved it should be abolished and something else tried. He would outline a proposal which might do more to make our industrial arbitration satisfactory than anything else we had tried. He was not in any way going to commit the Government to it, as he had no authority whatever to do that. The all-important thing about a wage' was not its nominal amount, but what is would buy. Workers might have nominally high wages and not have a . real subsistence wage;., in other words, the standard of a real wage was the cost of living. In New Zealand it must be admitted that the increase in the cost of living had equalled, if it had not outstripped, the rise in wages in many trades; hence it must be conceded that in many cases there had been no increase in the real wages of the workers " Hence,", proceeded Sir John, "I think the time has arrived when there should be a standing board of industrial investigation. This should include two of the best men Labour can find (one to represent factory and rjrotected products, and the other to represent non-taotory and non-protected work), one of the best men the fcarmeis can find, one of the best the manufacturers can find, one of the best commerce can find, and the last an expert accountant. Legal questions can be dealt with by a good lawyer invoked for the occasion. The personnel of the board should be absolutely non-party, and must have the fullest confidence of 'the people. It must be equipped by law with all reasonable powers necessary to its investigations. Such a board would have no jurisdiction to proteose or devise, schemes. Its work would be limited to expert and impartial investigation and report. It would furnish the facts, and in feian.v oases the Arbitration Court would act. on these facts. At present what does Parliament or the country at large often know of the complicated facts upon which reorm is based? Too often legislation has to take place on assumptions which are little better than the dark. If an Arbitration Court could have these investigations made it could in many oases shape its awards far more justly and satisfactorily than it does at present, for it must be remembered that the court has not now the power or machinery for such investigations. Labour, too., could thus learn definitely and reliably the real causes of its disappointments and "its injustices. The board must be as independent as we can make it, and should be selected for a term of years. The ironfounders of New Zealand for example, say that their industry is languishing and that they cannot pay fair wages or work full time unless the tariff gives them more protection. What at present is Parliament to do? It should not take the necessarily interested statement of the ironfounders themselves. An expert inquiry is necessary to decide: (a) should that industry be" encouraged in the interests of the community? (b) -is the present duty sufficient? (c) would an increase be fair to the people as a whole? The facts involved in each of these questions oould bo properly ascertained, by such a _ board as I have outlined, and then Parliament could decide what should be done. This applies not only to all divisions of the tariff, but to all other questions. These proposals have not been considered by the ' Government, and I do not expect that, consideration will be given to them this year. The Royal Commission, however, which is to be set up to investigate the problem of the cost of living and cognate matters mav pave the way to the end I have outlined." Sir John described new proposals in connection with old-age pensions, reducing the age limit and especially increasing by half the amount payable to the parents of young children. He referred also to the national provident fund at some length, and drew attention to the work done in assisting the poorer classes through the financial stress of maternity and sickness, in charitable aid, the care

of defectives and orphans, and the reformative treatment of criminals. Dealing next with the subject of access to capital, Sir John said ' that it was very important to devise means whereby any man without money could obtain increased facilities for credit.—(" Hear, hear.") The co-operative bank system Would make capital available to the worker.—("Hear, hear.") Last year £3,600,000 had been lent to settlers and workers at rates far lower than it could be .obtained elsewhere, but there were difficulties, delays, and expenses about these loans which 00-oprative works would ba free from, and they could demand no other poourity from the borrower than his honesty and industry. The State would be amply protected by the liability of members of the bank a,nd the certainty that they would be sure of the reliability of the man they lent money to. The interest chargeable— per cent, or 5 per cent. —was very low, in view of the fact that no security was required. From the fact that the bank could refuse money to any man not of good character, the institution tended to have a moralising influence. For instance, a man who drank could not raise money from it, and soon found that it paid him to stop drinking. In referring to the land question, the candidate said they had to cheek the drift of population to the cities, and to meet this several agencies were already at work, two of them being the Land Act and the Land for 'Settlements Act. He agreed that while much had been done in the past, land settlement must proceed more quickly if we were to achieve the destiny that Was open to us. Under the present system there were many difficulties. Crown lands were diminishing rapidly, and under the isettlement now ROirig on, within six years we would have very little good accessible Land available for settlement. What, then, was to be done? They were told that they must turn to the acquisition of the large estates in the hands of European owners; but for these lands the prices asked were so that some way must be found to avoid the enormous debt that would ba crowded upon the country by continuing such a polioy. Then there weTe some defects in the ballot system, and it was how intended to bring in a proposal to reduce that evil. With such a sparselypopulated area as they had in the north they would realise, if the right expedient was adopted, what a magnificent future lay before it. He had endeavoured to find where there was a large area of good land which the State could acquire now for probably one-third or one-fourth the price it would have to pay for it when that land had roads and railways put through it, and where the settlers placed upon that land could, by working portion of their time on the roads and railways, make ends meet until they go into more flourishing circumstances.—(Applause.) In addition to reaping the advantages he had named upon the lands to be acquired, the settlers would also derive benefit from the system of cooperative farmers' banks. They wanted to bring about a position so that a man with £5 in his pocket could get a laying area, of land to live on. They proposed to achieve this by setting aside large areas partly for individual application and partly for associated settlement, by which families could apply to the Government and so reap the advances he had mentioned. On the East Coast, north -of Gisborne, they had a large area of country containing fully 250,000 acres of Government land available for settlement in this way. What had prevented its development in -the past was the fact that it had no roads, but it was now proposed to construct these through it to the diffbrent coastal bays, giving almost immediate access to the outside world, and also to push on with the construction of the main arterial railway at the same time. There was also other areas north and south of Auckland which could be dealt with in a similar manner.

Dealing with the Native- land question, Sir John submitted that the time bad arrived when the Maori should be dealt with the same'as the European. After they had satisfied themselves that a sufficient area bad been reserved for the Maori, the remainder, of his land must be subject to compulsory acquisition. Legislation would be introduced in this direction. They had so educated the Maori that he was now able to undertake the duties of citizenship equally with other people, and the day would soon dawn when tbe special representation now given tbe Maoris could be dispensed with. . The candidate also dealt with the future prospects of the north, and refuted accusations that he was a man of impracticable ideals and a Socialist in the ordinary acceptance of the term. Sir John Findlay replied to a large number of questions, and the following resolutions were then put:—" That this meeting is of opinion, after bearing the able speech of the candidate, that he is a fit and suitable person to represent the electors of Parnell in Parliament, and that this meeting - accords him a hearty vote of thanks and confidence." An amendment was offered, the terms of which were not indicated, but it was declined, and the motion was declared carried on a show of hands.