THE MATAURA SEAT.

Otago Witness, Issue 3168, 2 December 1914, Page 79

THE MATAURA SEAT.

MR W. G. MEHAFFEY AT WINDHAM. Mr W. G. Mehaffey, Opposition candidate for Mataura, addressed a largely-attended meeting in tho Town Halt at Vvyndham on tho 2ist ult. Mr S. Shaw (chairman of tho Town Board) presided, and briefly introduced the speaker, who was given a good hearing and was frequently applauded, Mr Mehaffey, who was greeted with applause, prefaced his remarks with a strong appeal to the women to exercise their euiirages intelligently. When they saw women on the other side of the world* making such efforts to secure the suffrage they should realise the power that lay in their hands, end vote not as they were told, but according to their conscientious convictions. Young men also should judge for themselves, and should not be influenced by others. It had been suggested that the elections should be out off until the crisis of the war had passed. The suggestion, which was a good one, was made by the Leader of the Opposition, and was certainly not selfish, for it would have secured to tho Government a longer term of office. But tho Government —-and the speaker was sure it acted as it thought best—Mecidcd to hold the elections, and on December 10 tho people would bo asked to record their votes. The speaker would indicate the trend of political parties during the time he had been in the dominion. In 1879 the fortunes of the country were at a low ebb, and they continued so until 1890. During this time the destinies of the country wore guided chiefly by Conservative Ministries. The term “ Conservative ” expressed the characteristic of the party, and he preferred it for that reason, just as he preferred the term “Liberal” because it expressed the characteristic of the Liberal Party. During these years times were not good, but how ranch tho Government hud to do with that it was not for the speaker to say. No Government, good or bad, could to a very great extent affect the fortunes of the land. But a Government might, by wise measures, do much to stimulate industries, cause a hopeful spirit amongst the people, and so begin the conditions necessary for prosperity. In 1890 tho Liberals came into power, and tho sneaker would indicate the chief changes they wrought. An important action of "the Liberals was to change very notably the incidence of taxation. They swept away the old property tax, which had been found to act injuriously, and substituted the income and land taxes, with such exemptions as secured that tho contributions to the exchequer would be from thoso best able to bear them. By this means it was possible to reduce to a large extent tho indirect taxation from tho Customs. This seemed to have a stimulating effect on the industries, and there was a feeling of buoyancy that had not existed before. Tho Liberal Party had to encounter certain difficulties, and one of the most serious was that of the land. There were very large areas in the possession of individuals, while great numbers of people wanted land and could not get it. It wis necessary to take steps to bring about a change, and open these areas tor subdivision, lor a country Like New Zealand could not bo prosperous unless there was wide settlement on tho land. But whereas 20 years ago there wore large holdings and few habitations; now one could in many cases find those holdings cut up, and in the occupation of many persons. This cutting-up process had not gone on to the full extent yet, and there were still large areas that required subdivision in order that there might be more intensive cultivation. The present Government, when in Opposition, had objected to the compulsory system of subdivision. It was certainly as well to avoid compulsion if possible, but estates could not be subdivided unless the compulsory system was brought into force, although, of course, the graduated land tax might be used as a means of pressure. Now the Government, in its manifesto, professed to be willing to deal with tho problem, but during its term in office there had been no subdivision of big estates, and the speaker was afraid that tlic members of the Government had not regarded tho task with any favour. They could not bo expected to. They had opposed tho passing ot tho measure, and they could not be expected to administer the statute with any vigour. Another great obstacle of five Liberal Party was tho financial obstacle. In the early days there had been a greater demand for capital than there was capital to satisfy it, and tho result was a high rate of interest. In the Homeland money was to be obtained cheaply. It required a groat deal of courage for any Government to face the situation, for it meant going into competition with the money-lenders The Liberal Government recognised that, however unusual it might be, it would be for the advantage of the country if the Government were to obtain this cheap money in the Old Lands, and advance it to the farmers, to save them from paying ruinous interest. The Liberals were told that such a thing was unprecedented, but they had the necessary courage, and tho Advances to Settlors Act was placed on the Statute Book. There were many farmers well-to-do to-day in consequence of this measure, and it was amazing that many of these now supported thoso who had voted against tho putting of the Act on tho Statute Book. Which of the parties—that which passed tho Act, or that which opposed it, and tried to get clauses in to nullify its beneficial effects—was most likely to administer it for tho greatest good of the country? There was another instance in which tho Liberal Party had shown its courage —the State Fire Insurance Act. The insurance companies of New Zealand were charging a remarkably higli rate, but the Liberals passed tho State Fire Insurance Act, and the rates were brought down to a reasonable, though not a ruinously low, figure.

The Reform Party now field the reins of office, though it did not get a majority at the last election, and the speaker was not sorry that it had had a term of office, for it had now had an opportunity of showing what it could not do.—(Laughter.) The present Government had attested to the honesty of the administration of its predecessors. Before the last election the members of the then Opposition did not hesitate to say that into the administration of the Liberal Party, owing to its long continuance in office, abuses had crept. They hinted, and not in too veiled language, that corruption had reared its head, and that there had been certain “ pickings ” in connection with the many loans the Liberal Party had had to negotiate. These statements wore made so frequently, and in so many newspapers —for most of the newspapers were dominated by the Reform Party, which, by reason of its wealth, was able to be largely in a proprietorial position —and there were such constant hints and innuendos that things were not all right, that many, Liberals even, began to have their doubts, and said that it would not be a bad thing if the Opposition got into power, and had an opportunity of proving their insinuations. The latter said, in effect— ‘‘If we have a chance to examine the pigeon-holes we will be able to make disclosures that will startle the community.” Now they had had their chance, and had, presumably, ransacked the pigeon-holes and perused the documents, and they had to admit, and had admitted, that no abuse or corruption was found. There had been no “pickings” of an indefensible character. They found only that, during the Liberal Administration, the affairs of the country had been conducted on lines of strict honesty and integrity. A great lack of foresight and perspicuity had been shown by the Oonservatvic Government when it was in Opposition. It had constantly abused the Liberal Party for doing certain things, and then, when it got into power, it found itself compelled to do exactly the same, in these respects, as its predecessors. It had constantly taunted the Liberals with having placed in the Legislative Council men who had been defeated at the election for the House of Representatives, whom the members of the Opposition called “political rejects.” But when the Reformers came into office they did the same thing, and it was astonishing that they had not had the simple foresight earlier to see that this _ might bo necessary for themselves to do if they attained to power. They had accused the Liberals of excessive borrowing, but they were now doing to a greater extent what they had denounced their opponents for. They declared that the Liberals were ruining the country, and piling up the National Debt until it would become an insupportable burden. They themselves did the same, only at a greater rate. The speaker did not blame them for it. With a country like New Zealand borrowing was an absolute necessity, but it required to be done judiciously, when the markets were favourable, and the money must be expended judiciously, on reproductive works. The present Government, when in Opposition, had constantly asked— “ Why don’t you adopt a self-sustaining policy?” This meant —“ Ho not borrow' at all for public • works, but take what you can out of excess revenue over expenditure, and use what you can to build roads, railways, bridges', etc.” This could, probably, be done, but it would take so many years that, New Zealand would be left behind, and that was not desirable. If the resources of the country were to bo developed with sufficient rapidity, borrowing must go on. The time must come when borrowing must cease, but no one could fix the date; Borrowing would stop when the resources of the country were fully developed, and then a self-sustaining policy could be adopted. Onb could not say how many years th’.s would be, but it might bo that not many years would elapse before borrowing could be tapered off.* The Reform Party had advocated that borrowing should be tapered off. But now, instead of doing so, it had enlarged the borrowing. It 'had always been a point with the Liberals that they would establish a strong finance, and would eo regulate the taxation and the expenditure necessary taiat there would bo a satisfactory surplus at the end of the year. Every year tho Liberal Party had been wont to declare a surplus, and the Opposition had laughed, and said that those surpluses were bogus, and existed only on - paper, and not in reality. The members of the Opposition also said that the Extinction of Debt Act was a iool.sh affair, because, if the Sinking Fund accumulated, it was always possible for tho Government to seize it. But when tlio present Government went to the Memo market for a loan, they changed their attitude. Here they again showed want of foresight. In their prospectus to the Homo moneylenders they called attention to the surpluses that tho country had, although formerly they had called them bogus. _ They also called attention to the Debt Extinction Act, and showed that Now Zealand had been able, in tho course of years, to spend £9,000,000 out of surplus of revenue, for expenditure in the prosecution of public works. These were shown to impress the moneylenders in tho Homeland with the soundness of New Zealand’s financial position. New Zealand was in a sound financial position, and it was owing entirely to the Liberal Party’s administration. The present Government had promised not to repeal any of the progressive measures that tho Liberal Party put on tho Statute Book. If they tried to do eo, they knew that there would bo such a revulsion of feeling that they would be expelled from office. So tho people could rest assured that there would be no repeal of tho principal humanitarian measures passed by the present Government’s predecessors. But tho speaker was certain that, if the Government were allowed to remain in office and administer these measures, the beneficial efforts of them would be nullified to a great extent. He would refer to one piece of retrogressive legislation—the repeal of the second ballot. The object of the second ballot was to secure that no member of Parliament should get a scat without having the suffrage of a majority of tho electors in his constituency. The present Government repealed the Act, and said that they would put something better in its place. Now wo had gone back to the old system, which was a very good system if there wore only two candidates in the field But if there were more, there was a possibility of some one candidate heading tho poll with only a fraction of tho votes of the electorate. The Government should have substituted something for the second ballot that would have had tho eamo effect of preventing a person _ from being returned without' having a majority of the votes recorded in his favour. The present Government said that it

“went in for clean administration.” By that it implied that its predecessors did not go in for clean administration. Yet the Government had attested, in tho most undeniable way, that the administration of its predecessors was clean. Had there been any appointments by the present Government that were hardly of a defensible character? He would refer to one —the Garlick appointment. The Government might have obtained tho best man for the position, but it had not adoped the constitutional method of making tho appointment. Applications should have been invited, and even then Mr Garlick might have got the position. But the Government had acted in a way for which it would have condemned the Liberal Party. This appointment was just a sample. He would refer to a matter . which wae not pleasing, but which illustrated the ineptitude of the Government, and its inability to recognise a situation and take prompt measures—the Huntly disaster. If the Government had acted promptly, and had recognised the gravity of tho situation, it would have taken tho steps necessary to prevent tho disaster from occurring. Ho would not use tho language that some had used concerning the Government. That wae not fair. But it showed tho Government’s want of faculty, necessary in any Government, of perceiving the gravity of a situation, and the proper steps to pursue. Before the Liberal Party wont out of favour, a commission had been appointed to report on tho coal mines, and on this mine in particular. A Bill was prepared, to bo put on the Statute Book, but before it was passed the Liberal Party went out ol office. The Bill was passed on to the Reform Government, to bo placed on the Statute Book, it being necessary that the State should have power to enforce measures to secure tho safety of miners. The Government received the Bill, and it duly appeared on the Order Paper. But it gradually dropped lower and lower on the paper, till at last it disappeared. The reason was that certain mine owners had called on tho Minister and had objected to clauses in the Statute, and because of those objections the Bill was dropped. The disaster was tho result of tho dropping of tho Bill. Had it been passed no miner could have gone into the mine with a lamp that would jeopardise his safety. Certain minors did so, and the result was that 40 men lost their lives. All he blamed the Government for was ineptitude, and want of ability to recognise the gravity of a situation and take steps accordingly. It was necessary for the State to grapple with monopolies when they appeared, in order to preserve the community from exploitation. Which of the two paries, judging by their respective histories, was likely to wage a fight again the monopolist? The Liberal Party had shown that it w;as able to do so. It had grappled with tho monopolies of land and of insurance, and would grapple with any others that appeared. This was one of the things that the Liberal Party would go at with gusto, and that the other party would avoid, because to put down monopoly was to go against capital. Regarding the matters of defence, he hoped that, at the end of the war, when the great despotic Power was removed, the world would be assured of a generation of tranquillity and peace, _ and the matter would not loom so large in the public eye as it did now. Perhaps there was not much to pick between tho parties as far as defence was concerned. The Territorial scheme was introduced by tho Liberal Government, and tho other side was not slow to give assistance. If the people wanted tho scheme to be conducted economically, and so as to ensure that no military caste should arise, they would be more likely to attain this result through Liberal than through Reform administration. On the naval question there was a distinct difference in tho policies. Slir Joseph Ward advocated the continuance of the subsidy to the Home Government, such protection being obtained in return as tho shores of tho country required. Tho present Government urged the establishment of a New Zealand navy. Sentimentally, there was something pleasant in this latter idea. In Australia there was a navy, and, as an argument for a New Zealand navy, it was said that, if the Australian vessels had not been there, our shores would have been unprotected. That was not correct. If the Australian fleet had not been there, a detachment of the British fleet would. When tho war broke out the Australian fleet became part of the British fleet, and the Admiralty merely ordered it, ns such, to remain in these waters to afford protection. The question of a New Zealand navy was an economic one —could New Zealand afford to establish a navy? The Australian navy cost, approximately, £22.000.000, and the cost of upkeep was considerable. If New Zealand were to have a fleet, it would require to bo a strong one—the speaker would say, as strong as tho Australian fleet. What an expenditure it would entail! Anyway, ho did not think that the people would determine what side they would vote for on a matter of this kind, but rather on tho weightier matters ho had referred to earlier. In regard to education, he had boon connected with the schools of the country lor 36 years, and had paid great attention to progress in educational matters. The present high state of the educational system was duo to the efforts of the Liberal Party. When it came into power in 1890, educational affairs were at a low ehb. Under them tho primary schools system had been made as perfect as it -could bo. The Liberals took the unprecedented step of providing free places at the high schools for hoys and girls with proficiency certificates. But something more yet required to be done. It was necessary that tho halls of the University should be as free as the high schools. The ideal was a free, untrammelled path for every hoy, and girl from tho kindergarten to tho university. As for tho Liberal Party, let those present compare it as declared by Sir Joseph Ward, with that issued in Mr Massey’s manifesto for tho Reform Party. Sir Joseph Ward, after waiting in vain for tho Government to declare its policy, issued the Liberal programme at a meeting in Wellington. Tho Reform Council took hold of this, and, going through it, clause fay clause, tried to “go one better.” But in doing so they felt compelled to put in little provisos hero and there, and these indicated the cloven hoof. The Reform policy appeared to promise a great deal, and actually promised little or nothing. Mr Mehafley closed his remarks with an appeal to ids audience to vote for tho Liberal Party at tho election. In reply to questions, Mr Mehaffcy said that if, on any question, a large section of tho community demanded a referendum ho would be in favour of granting it, provided that issues were put so clearly that there could bo no mistake in the minds of tho people.

l:!e would support a 55 per cent, majority on the licensing issue. At the conclusion, a vote of thanks to, and confidence in, the speaker was carried.