ELECTION CAMPAIGN

Otago Witness, Issue 3584, 21 November 1922, Page 6

ELECTION CAMPAIGN

TIIE WAKATIPU ELECTORATE. MR JAMES HORN AT ROXBURGH. Mr Janies Horn, the sitting member for the Wakatipu seat, is again seeking the support of the electors of the district. On Mondiy, 13th, he addressed a public meeting in the Athenaeum Hall at Roxburgh, when there was a good attendance of people. Mr L. Rooney, Mayor, presided. The Chairman said that Mr Horn had done much to forward the railway towards Roxburgh. He deserved the thanks of the district for his efforts in that direction and for other works. —(Applause.) Mr Horn, who was received with applause, said at the last election there were three competitors in the field—a Reform candidate, a Labour candidate, and himself. Jt appeared to him that Wakatipu had more varied interests than any other constituency in New Zealand, and he claimed that lie represented all classes Uae working man, the middle man, and the big squatter. When he went to the House his mind was made up that he would giv** his best services to the people of the district, irrespective of position. lie represented five county councils and five or six municipalities, as well as two power boards; in addition, there were the individual interests he had to consider, and lie believed ihal 80 per cent, of the wants of the district, either of public bodies or f> f individuals, had been attended to, to the satisfaction of those who had placed requests h.m. —(Applause.) He never been a party man, and after three years of parliamentary experience he was of opinion that party politics

was not a good thing for New' Zealand. The Reform Party wished the Liberal Party to join with it, so that there would l e only two parties in the House, but ne held it would not be in the interests cf the country for the Liberal Party to do so. In the past the Opposition had criticised the Government proposals, and that criticism had done good, and measures had found their way to the Statute Book m a better form than when they were introduced Mr Massey had treated him very well, and he desired to give him credit for bis consideration. If Mi- Massey had a fault it was that he was too good-hearted. lie gave too much away, and there was a big power behind—The Conservative Party—that was always pulling the cords. The bigman at the back of him made him do things that otherwise he would not do. and always he legislation tended towards that big man Mr Massey said he was the friend of the farmer, but his actions did not. bear out his claim. Not long ago he went to his own electorate to open a branch railway, and on his return lie said his people had requested him to postpone the collection of the land tax from October to November. They had said to him. “We have no money now, but vve shear in the middle of October, and in November we shall have our wool cheques,” and Mr Massey’s reply was, “I will help the small man and postpone the collection of the land tax from October to November in order to allow him to shear his sheep and get his cheque.” He (Mr Horn), in his plane in the House, thanked the Prime Minister for his statement, and said it would be welcomed in the South Island. He also pointed out that in th.j South Island the farmers shore their sheep six or eight weeks later than in the North Island, and that the first sale was in the middle of De-

cember; therefore, would the Prime Minister postpone the collection of the land lax until the end of December or the beginning of January? Mr Massey said he would consider the matter, and 10 days later, when pressed for a reply, he said n° had consulted the Commissioner of i axes, who considered it would be impossible to accede to the request. Well, that was ‘ riot an action that assisted the small man. j What was done was an assistance to the | people in Mr Massey’s own constit u? icy 1 and to others in the North Island, but | that assistance was denied to farmers in the South Island, many of whom were | urgently in need of the concession, be- ; cause if they did not pay up by the stared, date 5 per cent, was added to the tax. and ! they lost the rebut.' of 10 per cent, u r j prompt payment. 'Then there was the wheat control. Before the last harvest the Government said they would give a free hand to the millers vo buy at 5s 6d a bushel, adding that they could buv uiiii’i October 1. when the balance would be purchased by the Government. "j he miller -, having the opp< n i unit\. lookup all the iirsi-grade wheal at 5s 6d. and when October came it was found there tv as no first-grade wheat in the country and the Government was not pioparet! io buy sectmd or third-grade. The position was Unit the millers usually bought 1000 sacks of !: yte grade wheat, 750 of second, and 500 c f third, and mixed them, making- a first-class Hour. The millers now held all the irsl grade- they would retain it for a time, arid later on buy up the second and third grides to make their usual blend. Thus, re mg to the Government’s action, half o e lie' wheat crop grown last year was «tfil in (lie hands of the farmers, and he (Mr Horn) would predict that a fro,' market would again be allowed to the nnlh r. the ‘ result of which would be that the farmer

would probably get 3s 6d for second grace and 2s 6d for third grade, thus barely paying expenses. That was net helping the small man.—(Applause.) He believed that the heads of departments who advised Ministers in these matters had not sufficient knowledge of the country or of the position of the wheat market. He had battled with Ministers to get' them to visit the country districts and see tilings for themselves," and when they did so Tie always got good results. The education vole for ihe current year \y;i- £3.497.000 Some members considered this was "too inui h. bid lie did not think v. (• If very parent should have the opportunity of giving hi - child the'best education possible, and a'child so equipped bad a good -i iT in life. This dominion undoubtedly had nu excellent system of education, and it was a manor the people ought to be i ,r ( »i ;d of i; ' a proper thing that a child with ability -h -Td b.- assisted <o oh- , ,j P m v edm-at ion He was pleased t ji :ii. mainly ihn. «gh 1- . fforK the children of the Roxburgh dislrn 1 h::d been enabled to visit Dunedin on the occasion ( ,r ;]-,o IVineeT visit. He was led to take jn.jioii in the matter on receiving a letter from the Roxburgh School {'ornmiitee. and as a result of the concession given to Roxburgh manv children throughout the country were grained a similar privilege. Three Bill.- that came before Parliament worn the Meat Control Bill, the 1 ) J n Produce (’oniroi Bill, and tile Rural (VediU Bill. The working of the Meat f'oni r«,l Bill. wiih the Government, guarantee at the back of it was well known. The Deirv Produce. Bill was on similar lines, but without the U-ov-eriimcnt guarantee, and half the number of factories in New Zealand were against it because they were not sure that fund... would bo forthcoming to give them a 75 per-

cent. advance. However, the Bill was now before those who were >net n it, and next session it would ; r< bai > come lx?fore the House again. As for the Rural Credits Bill, it was also without the Government guarantee. As a matter of fact, it i was only a skeleton proposal, and must be | inoperative until it had been amended by i next Parliament. When he was elected three years ago a burning question was that- of proceedings under tJie Rabbit Act. Under section 10 of that Act if two inspectors saw a couple of rabbits on a man's property they could summons him, but he was practically convicted before he went to court. The Act did no* arouse much opposition when the fines were seldom over £lO, but when the fines ranged up to £IOO public indignation was aroused. There were cases of returned soldiers who had not been on their holdings for six weeks who were fined £SO. He interviewed the Minister in the matter, and the Minister said to him. “I have a run known as Mesopotamia in Canterbury. I can keep the rabbits down there, and if I can keep them down 1 will see to it that the people in Otago keep them down, and they will bo fined until they do.” Hater on, be met a man who was on a run adjoining that of the Minister, and this man informed him that Mesopotamia was the “most raj> bity” run in Canterbury.—(Laughter.) However, as the result of representations, supported by letters in the Otago Daily Times by Mr A. 1). Bell, of Waihemo, the Minister was induced to visit the district, and as a consequence it was agreed that section 10 should bo amended. As for the

heavy fines, some were reduced by from 50 to 75 ior cent., and all cases of hardship were satisfactorily dealt with.—(Applause.) Further, the Minister promised that, in order to cope with the rabbit pest, he would, when the market was favourable, order wire-netting by the 100 miles ami supply it to farmers and others at cost price. Then Crown tenants who could not pay in cash would probably be allowed to add the cost to their rental and pay it by instalments during the period of their leases. If the Minister kept his promise it should do much to put down the rabbit nuisance As a matter of fact, in going round Otago Central he had noticed that the country was clearer of rabbits than lie had seen it for some years, except on the Mount Pisa Estate. The Mount Pisa land should bo given to settlers for a few years without rental. The* holders would soon Dear the rabbits out. and if skins went to Is there would not be many left when the spring came round again. Surveyors were now on the run. re-arranging the subdivision. The Minister of Lands sa*d in the House recently that he did not want to put men on this land unless they could make a god living out of it, and it sc mod to him tMr Horn) the re-survey would mean that instead of 20 small runs there would be five or six or seven, and the result would be that the Sons of wealthy men would get the lot. Sheep were to ho given wiih each block, and such a high price would be asked for land and sheep that only well-off men would be able to find the finance. He was pleased the Otago Daily T imes supported him in the position he took up over the estate. Since ihe Minister made his state merit he (Mr Horn) had interviewed him; he had also seen the Prime Minister, and as a result a commission was to visit the district and confer with the local people. It was possible, therefore, that justice would yet be done to the returned soldiers who had been waiting for three years for the block. If returned as member for Wakatipu. ho would do what lie could to see that the young fellows who went to the war had a chance of settling down in the district where they were born and that the land was not passed on to the sons of wealthy people.—(Applause.) As to the finances in 1919. when the National Government wa* disbanded and the Reform Party again assumed the reins of office, (here was a sum of 15 millions of accumulated annual surpluses. Sir Joseph Ward, who was Treasurer in the National Government, advised.that the money should be added to the Public Debt Extinction Fund. Tim surplus in 1929 was 2* millions, and in 1921 ‘t was 61 millions, or 23i mil-

lions altogether, which, m the hands of the Advances to Settlers Department, could have been loaned out to settlers and workers at 41, per cent, or utilised for the purchase of land for soldier settlement. The landowner could have been given 25 per cent, in ca.-h and the remainder in l*onds, and as ihe soldiers*repaid the money the original owners could have been paid off. In that way largo areas might have been secured on very satisfactory terms to both parties. As it wc . many of the'purchases were not satisfactory. In some cases hind valued at £/ or £8 an acre was bought ar £2O. A better class of land valued at £59 an a -re was bought at £7O, and wilicn loaded for improvements the. price on vhi-h the soldiers’ rentals \Wre based was £SO an acre. In Taranaki as much a- £l2O an acre, was given for land. He did not altogether blame the Government in the matter. It seemerid to him the Government had not the brains to see the position: it had money to burn, hut the returned soldier settler had been saddled with a heavy burden. He was pleased a commission had been set up to visit the soldh r settlements. The result would be. he believed, that some very hard coses would be exposed and that the present valuations w >uld be considerably altered. He was convinced that SO per cent, of the JT< use as constituted ill the present Parliament desired to see the returned soldiers righted, and if returned he would do what he could in that direction. i Applause.) r i lie p.uhli'- debt unounted to 170 millions when Sb* Joseph Ward left office: to-dav, owing chiefly to the war. it was 2081 millions net. after allowing fra- sinking funds amounting to about 11 millions. The only bright spni in this huge indebtedness was that 110 millions of the money were >wing to our own people in New Zealand, and every six months 2£ millions were paid in interest to the "holde? . t ui es. T o Australia < million», and to Biitain 10< > millions. It > as a great | debt, no doubt. but he did not think the | dominion would find any difficulty with ii.. i So far wo had at way- paid mir wav. In the I iicxt seven veins. loans t • I would tall ‘due. and By , < ..pm who had ; lent the money would I e glad, he thought, j to rent . hilL a < I li was at a pc od like tee present that : a wat Viful Gppositi I Opposition should m r l.e a >mah one, and 1 ii, was quite oil the card- that after the j election th.- Prime Minister would not have ! the large majority he had now. it was not ! ,),<• mimesis of th dominion that prac- '* ticahs all the strength should he on one

side. If Mr Massey had a smaller majority he wo aid be compelled to listen to good advice from the ether side. As a matter of fact, at the present time some, of the Government followers were smarting under the Party yoke, and would prefer to be in a position to criticise the financial proposals of the Government and other matters which they could not do to-day. Three years ago he complained that the South Island was not getting a fair deal in the matter of the expenditure of public money, as compared with the No;th Island, and to-day he had a similar complaint, to make, hast session the Public Works vole for roads and bridges .was £3.95,985 for the North Island and only £294.822 for the South Island, the North Island thus having an advantage of £691,163. The province of Auckland got almor-t as big a vote as the whole of the South Island. Turning to hydro-electric schemes, there was a vote of £821,0G0 for the North Island and only £276,000 for the South Island. Practically the whole of the £276.000 was to be spent on Laiie Coleridge, only £IOOO for surveys being provided for the rest of the South Island. Further, in August last the Public Works Department was employing 3208 men in the North Island and 755 in the South Island. Now, if money was being spent in a certain place, did not the people go there? Certainly. And did they return to their former abodes? No. The loss cf population m the South Island, as evidenced by the decreasing number of electorates, was brought about by the Government’s scheme of giving the great bulk of the money to the North Island, while the South Island was being > starved, and the practice had gone on so long the South Island was becoming weary of it. There were actually six hydroelectric schemes in progress in the North Island, and only one scheme in the South Island. This meant that when the schemes were ready in the North Island, manufacturers would commence their works there, and the North Island would have 10 years’ start of the South Island, and when at last the South Islands chance came it would have a long stern chase to catch-up. This was not rifrht. If the cities in the south fell behind the cities in the north the secondary industries in the south would go down very seriously, and the result would be bad for the whole dominion. Somethin? ought to be, done, then, and bring about a more equal distribution of tile Public Works Fund. Members had spoken about the position, and the present stalo of things would not be allowed to continue, because it was net a fair deal. — \ (Applause.) j Irrigation was a matter in which the ! reopl.- were all interested. When I he went 10 Psirliamcmi he found that the irrigation of Central Otago was not, well i 'll lersti on 1C in. i i. and silo he a vi brought it forward time and again, and had made himself almost a nuisance to the House by referring to it, the Minister of Public Works said he would visit (Uago , and see the position for himself. When the Minister came south he said, “Mr Horn, I have four or five days to stay, and I warn you that Cabinet is pretty tired of spending money on irrigation in Otago. Make the best use of the days, and if I am not. satisfied the expenditure will be stopped.” He took the Minister up to Wanaka and back to Clyde, bringing irrigated land under his notice, and then°asked him, ‘What do you think of irrigation?” ‘‘lt is marvellous,” said Mr Conies, “hut "it appears to me you have irrigated the best places, or you could not have the results you have. Show me a large area out of which the heart has not been picked, and T will ■ *e " at i s fi. ■ d. lie then escorted the Minister to Tda Valley, and when Mr Coat's saw the cows and sheep in the clover on irrigated land he was delighted, and so convinced of the benefit of irrigation that lie at once gave instructions for the immediate prosecution of the scheme. (Applause.) Cabinet had now decided that 400.000 acres of land were to b e irrigated and there was to be no halt in the'work if the money was available. At one time Ida Valiev carried nn" sheep to two acres and now it carried from five to seven sheer, to the acre. Jfe believed that when the area in Otago that' could be irrigated by gravitation was in use there would be two million more sheep in the Vincent and Maniotnto counties than there were no;v. And allowing 8!b of wool per sheep and 1 he price Pd pe-- ib. there would be increased production in Otago Central to the amount of six millions annirdlv. Tf they succeeded in increasing production in that way. how many more people would they have? In ten veers, irtste "1 of having one member for Waikatipu th°y would le entitled to two members. —(Applause.) Txist week ho was informed that the whole of the Molynoux Valley, from Butcher’s Bully to Kttrick, was to ho irrigated. I he surveyors had gone to the l.ast Chance race, which would supply the country between Butcher’s Gully and Coal Creek, and the wat"r would probably bo available next spring. Further, the Government ha/I obtained all the rights of the Teviot Hirer, iiicludinr latko Onslow, and it was anticipated tli.it all the Teviot estate, as well as the land in East Roxburgh,

would soon under a fine system of irri-g-a ti on. —(A ppl au se.) y With regard to the railway, he promised three years ago to do what he could to have it carried as far as Beaumont. Last year £30,000 was voted for the work, and this year £60,000. In three years the line should be finished, to Miller’s Flat, and after tnat. he hoped, it would be carried on to Roxburgh.—(Applause.) After three years in Parliament, if the electors thought he had served them fairly well, he believed he could do even better service in the future. He hoped the people would take taat fact into consideration on election d ay. —(A pplause.)

In reply to a question, as to whether lie had given £SO to the Catholic Federation, i ’* r Horn said he had been informed mat a representative of the P.P.A. was following him up. . It was absolutely untrue that he had given a donation of £SO to f ne . Catholic Federation. He had been in business in the Cromwell district for 40 years, . and at many church bazaars and gatherings, no matter what denomination, was concerned, he had given assistance, or he had given donations for local wants <jr for some person, in distress, but he could never afford more than from two to five guineas. . He had given to everyone, irrespective of their religious beliefs. Fie belonged to the Presbyterian Church, and had given donations of more than £SO to it. and had also assisted in the building of two churches. This, of course, he had a right to do.—(Applause.) •After answering other questions, Mr Horn was, on the motion of Mr John Bennetts, accorded a hearty vote of thanks for his address. MR JAMES RITCHIE AT ROXBURGH. I UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THANKS. j In the Athenaeum Hall at Roxburgh on I Tuesday, 14th, Mr James Ritchie, the Reform candidate for the Wakatipu constituency, addressed a large meeting of electors. Mr J. Rooney, Mayor of Roxburgh, occupied the chair. Mr Ritchie, who was warmly received, said the people of New Zealand were again called upon to discriminate between three parties, each professing a desire to rule the country, but on widely different lines and methods. The dominion was, as it were, at the parting of the ways and at one of the most critical periods in its history. Everything depended on the choice the elertors made at the forthcoming election. It had been said it was a dangerous practice to swop horses in mid-stream, and same principle might be applied to the exchange of political ideals and leaders i during a period of reconstructing As the j Reform Government find held the reins of j office for 10 years, it would; be admitted i R had had to’contend with many dirk- | cutties in that time. Almost as soon as j h came into power mere was the water- j sillers’ strike of 1913—-a strike that as- j sumed very serious proportions. Rioting j took place in Wellington, and at cue time j ir was thought it would end in bloodshed. ! However, through Mr Massey's fact and ! ability, and the good offices of the president of ihe Waterside Workers’ Union, a settlement: was effected peaceably. There was another strike looming at present-, but he hoped that for the sake of the dominion the trouble would he settled at amicably as (bat of 1913. The dominion could not afford to have strikes at this important period of its history. Its people must settle down to hard work and production, and until they did so they would not. win prosperity. On the heels ' of the strike of 1913 there came the Great War, when Mr Massey and Sir Joseph Word joined forces in order to present a stromr front to the enemy, as far as it lay in New Zealand’s pore r to do so. —(Applause.' . Proceedin'? to deal with political questions. Mr Ritchie first touched on education. This, he said, was one of the- most important departments of Plate, and It is audience would agree with him when he said that prior to the Massey Government coming into power the teachers received a starvation wage not sufficient to induce the best men and women to take up the profession. In 1910-11 the average salary was £160; to-day it was £985. AH sorts of charges were made against the Massev Government about reducing wages hut here, in the Education Department, it had increased salaries considerably, thou'-ii they were not high enough vet, Tf there was any department that should be paid u "II it was that of teaching. Tf New Zealand was lo he a great country its people must be educated. The cost ’ of education in 1910-11 was £1.294,000; last year il v as £3,573,000.’ It was an enormous increase hut he was glad to think That the pruning knife had not been unduly applied to the i i'ee of education. Nor would it. be said she Government had done wrong in erecting 1009 schools during its form of office. 610 of which were in the back!docks, thus making if possible for settlers who were carving out homes for themselves far from (he cities to get their children educated. In addition, in the far north of Auckland, there were travelling teachers, who went

into the heart of the bush and imparted j instruction to children in their own homes. ; The Government apparently recognised that j education was a most important thing mi j *y e building up of a young country like j New Zealand.—(Applause.) The junior high school was an important innovation: it would bridge a gap between primary and secondary education. Three-fifths of the education would be common to all the pupils; two-fifths would consist of educa- • ti on specially applied to the calling for I which any pupil showed aptitude.—(Ap- | plause.) ihe railways formed a subject that was

j- engaging the attention of everyone. New Zealand was at present losing money on its railways, to the extent of about £3OOO per day. There were 10.000 employees in the railway service ig 19.10-11; to-day there were 15,000, and the production of the country was not more than in 1910-11, consequently the carriage of goods on the railways could not be greater. Under these | circumstances, if the railways were being I rim by a private individual or a company, | the first thing the management would :lo 1 would be to sack 3000 or 4COO hands. That I would have been done last winter. But I the Government could not do as a private : individual would do. The Government had . to take into consideration the unem-ploy- ! ment difficulty and the flooding of the mar | ket with perhaps a couple of thousand ; additional men. He did not say there were

2000 men unnecessarily employed on the railways, and the Government- acted wisely in the unemployment crisis in not discharging men in order to make the railways a paying proposition. If he had his way he would try some changes to make the railways pay, and in the first place he would reduce fares and freights to make the railways more popular.—(Applause.) The Main Highways Bill was passed lastsession. ' The original intention was to make a main highway from Auckland to the Bluff, but at the conference in Christchurch 18 months ago he objected to the proposal, bee one it would merely be entering into competition with the railways and providing a means for joy-riders to get about the country. (.Applause.) The people who ought lo be considered were the people out-back who wanted their produce brought to a market. .For instance, there was a road wanted from Hawea to Cromwell, to give the farmers on opportunity of getting their grain to a market.— (Applause.) The public works of the dominion were carried out on the co-operative principle, which lie did not favour. The small contract system was preferable. -(Applause.) Tf ihe Lawrence-Roxlmrgh line were divided • nto sections, each section being given to half-:-:-dozen men at a fair price, (he line would he constructed much cheaper than if would be under the present plan. When lie was travelling on Monday between Beaumont and Roe’s Junction lie picked up a couple of the workers on the line. It was plain they were “up against Massey.” He asked them how much they were earning on the line, and one of them said. ‘T averaged £1 a day for 14 months, but last month I got only 15s a day.” He added that other men got no more than 6s a day. He (Mr Ritchie) said, “are they worth any* more':” and his friend said. “No, they are not worth sixpence.*’ The co-operative system was not in the best interests of the working men, and he was convinced the present system of constructing public works was wrong.—(Applause.) The Government was doing something in the way of providing workers’ dwellings .Mr Seek!on brought in the first Act. but between 1305 and 1912 very little was done in the way of erecting houses. Between 1912-15 the Reform Government erected 422 houses; in the next four years the National Government erected 10L and since then the Reform Government had erected 10.110. costing £6.542.113 And yet it was said by owe people that the Massey Government was a class Government and was not out to do anything for the workers! He claimed that the Tory party was not against the old-age pensions, though if opposed the manner in which the pensions were granted. Jfe had assisted old men to get pension, and he always felt it was humiliating for those men to go before a magistrate and have to admit they were paupers before they could get pensions, Such a thing hsd now been done away with. After a reference to the expenditure on old-age pensions widows’ pensions, epidemic pensions, and Maori war pensions, Mr Ritchie went on to sav that (he miners’ py this is pensions, introduced two years ago, accounted for £31.212 last year. A married miner suffering from this awful disease was allowed 35s a week, and a single man 255, and the men now in receipt, of the pensions are very grateful to the Government for the provision it had made for them. In 1911-12 the total pensions payment was £406,219; last year it was £2,791.112. It was an enormous increase, but New Zealand was proud of its pension system and proud to know that its military and war pensions were the most liberal in the world. The

fact that such a huge sum was paid last year showed that the Massey Government was alive to the fact that the pensions were necessary.—(Applause.) With irrigation works he had been connected for 40 years. He had been instrumental in getting several schemes installed m his own district. One of the schemes would irrigate, a large portion of the Bannockburn district. When he was in Wellington floating a loan for the work Mr Massey said to hun that notwithstanding the financial stringency the Government intended to provide money fo-r irrigation schemes, because it realised that irrigation for Central Otago was its life's blood and would lead to greatly increased production. No one could gainsay the value of irrigation. i hirty acres of his farm were planted in lucerne, and for two years he had fed on that area 12C0 sheep. 30 head of cattle, and vrruu h ? rses f° r h ye months in the year. While for two years he had wintered the same stock on lucerne from the area. People in Southland to whom he had stated this fact would hardly believe it was possible. Outside his fence the land would not carry a sheep to 10 acres, but his land in grass carried 10 sheep to the acre. That showed the possibilities of irrigation. In Central Otago there were a quarter of a million aeges capable of being irrigated by gia\ itatioir. and a million acres capable ot being irrigated by pumping from the river. | Mining had not been neglected by the j Government, and assistance was given for ! prospecting under certain conditions. Mining i seemed, however, to be dying out. The i old miners, of whom few were now left ; were a fine lot of men. It was gold that made the roads and built many of the bridges m Central Otago, and to the pioneer I yners the people of to-day owed a deep : debt of gratitude. Last year the GovernI m ent, besides helping prospectors, assisted I K‘SS ectmß ' companies to the extent of i £6545. I , ll® was a farmer. He was reared on a tarm, and although he was mining for 10 years he knew it was not the game it was ; cracked up to be, because every ounce of i gold taken out of a claim made that claim j an ounce poorer, but every ounce of gold i spent on a farm made that farm worth ■ more - The land policy of the Government was the freehold. He occupied lease- : houl land himself, but he was a freeholder ;at heart arid believed in it. Under the : old Act it was possible for a man and his | wife to each hold a run. but this was not | allowed now except under rare cireumI stances, and with' the approval of the i Minister. He approved of the Govern- | ment’s action in extending the leasehold ! term of certain lands from 14 to 35 years, j It would encourage the holders to wirej net- to keep down the rabbits, and in that

i way the carrying capacity of the land would be increased and greater production would follow. i ft was said in the cities that the object of the Meat Control Bill was to allow the ! farmer to get a larger return from the consumer. As a matter of fact the main object was to eliminate the middle man. 9 he Control Board also aimed at securing a reduction in freights, improving the marketing facilities, and regularity of shipment and all these objects had been gained, with considerable benefit to the farmers and the dominion as a whole. The same benefits, it was hoped, would lie secured for the dairy producers under the Dairy Produce Export Control Bill, which would no doubt again come before Parliament next session. The question of the public health exercised the minds of the people considerably. He had been connected with the Cromwell Hospital for 21 years—-in fact, for 21 years he had been chairman of the Cromwell Hospital Trust —and lie had at all times taken a keen interest in preserving the health d.©f the people. The Government inspection of schools was one of the bestinnovations of recent years. It was right to begin with the children, and so nip in the bud any disease that might affect them in a fter life. The dental inspection of schools was another wise provision. There were 30 lady dentists who. at the beginning of the year, would be distributed throughout New Zealand. Some- of them would he in the country (listric-ts. and parents would he able to take their children to them and g' t them treated tree of cost. Sixteen more ladies were m training for the werk. Regarding provision for tubercular cases, a conference was held at r Jimam in June, representative of all the hospital boards in the South Island, Dunedin and Canterbury excepted, as these places had already made provision for such cases. At- that conference it was decided to proceed with the erection of a sanatorium at, Waipiala, and buildings would soon be in course of erection to accommodate between 200 and 300 patients. Further, the Sanatorium Committee had purchased 1300 acres in the same, locality, and taken over Dr Byers’s private sanatorium. He hoped the Otago Board would eventually come into the scheme. Patients might, he taken from north and south of Dunedin, to the Wakari institution, which was at present unused, and from there transferred to Waipiat-a.

The settlement on the land of the discharged soldiers was a very difficult problem. He admitted at once that- the Government had paid too high a price for some of the land it had bought.—(Applause.) xie thought the Government also realised it, and two gentlemen had now been appointed to revalue the settlements. He understood there was an objection to one of the gentlemen who had been appointed—he referred to Air Carrnthers. Borne time ago he wired to the Minister of Lands for an explanation of Mr Carruthers’s appointment. and (hat day he had received the following reply:—“Carrnthers appointment criticism most unfair and unwarranted. When appointment made had absolutely no knowledge of his connection with Poplar Grove. His qualifications for the work of the board cannot be seriously questioned, and to meet objection to his association with Poplar Grove T have arranged for Air Rodgers to report on that portion of the district. Am confident both men will submit fair and unbiassed report.—D. IT. Guthrie. Alinister of Lands.” He (Air Ritchie) had done what he considered right in the matter. He had not been in a position to give an intelligent reply to any question about it, and had therefore communicated with the Alinister, so that he would he able to state the position to any soldier-settler who might question him about the appointment. Ilis own opinion on the matter was that, under the circumstances, it would have* been quite fair for Air Carrnthers to have resigned.—(Applause.) At the same time, he did not know whether either of the gentlemen—Alessrs Carrnthers and Rodgers—was qualified to value high country; he had been told they , were both low-country men. Under the Discharged Soldiers’ Settlement Act of 1915, 4160 returned soldiers had received advances amounting to £3,486,613; under section 2 of the Soldiers’ Settlement Act, 1917 (advances towards purchase of farms, market gardens, and orchards), 5443 returned soldiers had received £8.763,847; under section 2 of the Soldiers’ Settlement Act, 1917 (advances for the purchase and erection of dwellings and discharge of mortgages), 10,789 returned soldiers had received £7,489,490; in all. 20,392 returned soldiers had received by way of advances £19.744,950. The Government had been criticised in respect to the money it had used for the soldier settlements. During the war period there accumulated surpluses amounting to 23 millions, which were invested in London at 4 per cent. Sir dames Allen, Alinister of Finance at the time, considered that, instead of going on the market to borrow, it was fair and right to use these accumulated surpluses for the settlement of the returned soldiers on the land. lie (Air Ritchie) agreed with that view. At the time it was not possible to get money at under 5 or 6 per cent., and it would have been bad business if the Government had borrowed at that rate. The income in the permanent charges against the dominion had increased from £4.236,089 in 1913-14. to £12,874,000 in 1922. It was an enormous increase, and as a result the country was groaning under taxation. It was clear to him that until there was a reduction in taxation there could be no reduction in ihe cost of living. One of the first things they must do was to subdivide their lands and increase settlement, and thereby increase production. A vigorous policy of immigration was essential. At the same time the labour market must not bo flooded with men when employment was scarce. He would like the Government to work in with the Imperial Government’s scheme to send suitable men to the colonies and assist them with finances, and if that* could lx; done it would certainly be the duty of the New Zealand Government to subdivide some of its lands to receive these people. If people of that stamp came out they would help the people now in the country to bear the burden of taxation. For the six months ended September 30 last the revenue of the dominion showed a decrease on the figures for the six months ended September 30, 1921. but in October last some of the departments revealed such an improvement that for the seven months ended October 31 the revenue showed an increase of £229.111, as compared with nie same period in the previous year, lie was sure the people as a whole would be pleased to know that the primary products of the dominion were bringing bettor prices. The country had certainly been “up against it” for the last.two years. The wool growers got it. first, and when they had to take 4d or 5d for wool for which 13d or 16d was given during the commandeer it was enough to make, any high-country man weary of the game. Then moat.- -lumped, and last year unfortunately the dairv produce went down. But present price- showed that the dominion was fairly round ihe corner, and onl> needed now to dig its heels in and work, which would bring ihe people hack to the prosperous time, they enjoyed before tho. war.—(Applause.) Mr T\ itclUs "closed his speech with a few personal re*..arks. He was born in the district, and had lived m it all his life. At one time he was a miner, then a stonemason, after which he followed the occupation of a farmer. He had always been associated with public bodies. For tlie last

11 years lie had been elected unopposed as I chairman of the County Council, and for 20 years he had been chairman of the Hospital Committee. He was not boasting of ms i public achievements, because he considered it was every man’s duty to do a share in carrying on local government. —(Applause.) With respect to ihis opponent, he had been a personal friend of Mr Horn for 30 years, and had always found him a straightforward and honourable man.—(Applause.) He had also found him, while member for the district, a keen worker, alive to every interest, and anxious to attend to public business. He (Mr Ritchie) would light the election to the last ditch, and if he won it would cniy be as the result of a square and above-board contest. —(Applause.) He was sure Mr Horn would act in the same way. The only difference between Mr Horn and himself was that Mr Horn would vole to put Mr Massey out, and he (Mr Ritchie) would vote to keep him in.—(Applause.) In reply to a question, Mr Ritchie said the policy of the Government was to push on all railways now in course of construction and their termination before further lines were authorised. The LawrenceRoxburgh line was authorised to Miller’s Flat, and if returned he would do his best to have it extended to Roxburgh.— (Applause.) On the motion of Mr Thomas Andrew', a hearty vote of thanks was unanimously accorded to Mr Ritchie for his address. THE CLUTHA SEAT. MR A. S. MALCOLM’S SPEECH. f'r A. S. Malcolm delivered his policy at Balclutha in the Oddfellows’ Hall. r l were over 100 people present. The (Mr 11. SHmson) presided. M- Malcolm said that, as they knew, ht.- i: ldorn troubled them with party matters on such occasions. He had often wondered why they did i.ot continue with one strong National Party. The Reform Party made the Liberals a very liberal offer, and though their numbers were many less offered them half the seats in Cabinet. The Liberals, however, refused the offer, and the Reform Government went back to power stronger than ever. There was really very little difference between the two, now that the fight for the freehold had been fought and won; indeed, the Lil>erals had bad to manufacture a platform to show ;Tie difference, and it included planks which the Liberal Party had strongly opposed on past occasions. The reason why the Reform Party was so united was that Mr Massey always kept in close touch with its members. There was a party meeting regularly once a week at which he submitted what he proposed to do during the next week. Members had-every oppor tunity either to approve it or Kirn it clown, and the result was that they went into the House a united party, because they were dealing with measures which had been amended to suit, the party. The members of the Reform Party were ari independent lot, as they had shown on one or two occasions when Mr Massev had not been able

to bring them together as usual. There was trouble at once, and on one occasion it threatened t<f break up the party. Ti was true, though that. Mr Massey was the dominant figure in the House, and he had a greater command of it than oven Mr Seddon. (Laughter and a voice saying. “Rats.”) This lie accomplished not, by bullying, but by good judgment, and good generalship. It had been said that the

Reform Government was the capitalists’ Government, but he asked what was there in Mr Massey’s history to justify such a charge? It might be asked why then did they not accept the Labour Party’s platform? The reason was because they did not believe it was in the interests of the working man, however well intentioned it. might be. As an instance of how Government interference led to trouble, he quoted the Housing Department, • declaring that Mr Massey had been persuaded to frame the regulations against his better judgment. The result was that private building was choked off: the Government found it could not provide the number of houses that would have been provided by builders, landlords, and speculators, and the last state of the country was worse than the first. He also quoted the lane experiment, and said the most any Suite could do was provide equal opportunity for all, which we had in New Zealand.

We had been through three critical years, during which there- had been a lot of cheap criticism of the Government, but the proof of its success was that it had been able to show a credit balance, and New Zealand was probably better off than any other unit of the Empire. How had the Government done this? He remembered three years ago declaring that increased production and reduced expenditure were | necessary, and the Government, had done its best in both directions. In the first place it had recognised that producers must have cheap money, and so it had kept t.he Advances Office well supplied. Then it had permitted tens of thousands of immigrants to come into New Zealand. This might appear at first sight to have been a mistake, but they should look for the reasons underlying it. The Government knew that New Zealand had lost the flower of its manhood while it had doubled its debt. It also know that wealth could not be produced without, labour, and so i* welcomed in the immigrants. It was true there had been some unemployment, but the Government had dealt with the difficulty by providing temporary employment with the result that last winter there were few unemployed in New Zealand.—(daughter, i When the country found its feet again this labour would be available to lie used for its benefit. So far as reducing expenditure was concerned, they knew what the Government had done. Voices: Reduced wages. Mr Malcolm: No, not wages, bonuses. It had been a very painful duty, but the result of all its economies was that the Government had saved the country over £5,000.000 and in this way had been able to make ends meet. The Government had also been able to reduce taxation. borne people said this was done in the interest of the “fat” man, but the position was that the reduction would be passed on to the people. It was not individuals, but the big companies which were affected. It had been recognised that the burden of taxation was crushing industry, and that relief had to be given or there would be a general collapse. What was needed was deflation There had been much borrowing, and that had led to inflation, and deflation was hard to get. Then (here was the question of a Staie Rank. People took exception when they found the hanks charging high rates, hut they should be grateful that file bunks had been in a sound position when the slump came. If was largely because of their large reserves that tire banks had been able to

keep New Zealand going. When the banks raised their rates they were really doing a public service by checking enterprise for the time being. As far as a State Bank was concerned, he had quite an open mind on that question. In the Bank of New Zealand the Government had t,o a large extent a. State Bank, and the State got a large sum in profits and taxation. It was a question, therefore, what benefit would be obtained by the establishment of a State Bank. In New Zealand, too, they had another kind of State Bank in the Advance Office. Three years ago he had urged very strongly that the Territorial system should be abolished. In that he had not succeeded, but he was glad to say that the expenditure had been reduced from £600,000 to £400,000. He would like to have some further economies. For instance, there was the census. He did not see why it should be taken so often. Then there was the constant changing of the electoral boundaries, which was a very exasperating and annoying business. —(Laughter.) “Not to me,” he continued. “for, though I had nothing to do with it. it made Balclutha my centre.”

Speaking of the railways, Mr Maloolm said their conduct had given a great deal of dissatisfaction. Last elections he had urged that a board should bo set up. That had been done, but it was composed of railway officers, while he thought it should represent other interests. He feared it would prove of very little value. He argued that the trouble was that in the Government service there was not the same incentive behind the employees as there was in private employment, and urged that District Traffic Managers should be given control of their own districts so as to arouse competition. At present everything was decided in Wellington, which necessitated a double staff, besides which they in Wellington were not up in local matters. He was confident these changes would result in a more economical and speedy service.

Regarding the meat pool, Mr Malcolm said that lamb, as they knew, had fallen to a price that would not pay for breeding and feeding it. The Reform Party eventually brought in the meat pool, one of the most successful things that had ever been done by any Government in New Zealand. It had lifted New Zealand out of the slough of despond. From that time the price had begun to rise. A Voice: What about beef?

Mr Malcolm: I admit that there we can do little, because while in lamb we ire one of the largest exporters in the world, our beef exports arc so small that the British people can afford to ignore them. Another thing, he continued, that the Government had done was to try to secure a market for the farmers’ oats in Australia. He had urged this on Mr Downie Stewart, and Cabinet had taken it up. lie was glad to say that Mr Stewart had told him that he could arrange now for the free ad mission of oats into Australia. Mr Stewart, however, thought: that in 12 months’ time lie could make match better terms. Mr Malcolm said he had all along urged the use of wire netting to keep down rabbits. He had urged that: the Government should let the farmers have it at wholesale price, and should further subsidise them by allowing off its cost the amount spent on the inspecting department, which would then not Ire required. A Voice: The t lovernment should kill its own rabbits (“Hoar, hear.”) Dealing with nroportional representation. Mr Malcolm said it, was a very clever method, as it. would return members to

Parliament in exactly the same proportion as there were people of various schools of opinion in the country. Because it would do that people thought it was a perfect system, but. he thought that was the very reason why it was impossible. What they wanted in the country was a good, strong Government. It was no use asking a Government to carry on unless it had an assured majority. It would be impossible to carry on with a Government that would not represent any particular united opinion. Mr Seddon could never have put through the legislation he did if it had not been for his overwhelming majority. Another point was that in order to carry out proportional representation they would need to have very large electora,tes. The model would be to have one for the North Island and one for the South, but in any case they must have nine-member constituencies. There were 67 polling places in the Clutha electorate now, and he could not get round them all Just fancy trying to represent an electorate nine times as large ! Another thing was that in Great Britain Parliament was a legislative assembly, whereas in New Zealand the bulk of the members’ time was taken up in attending to the business of their constituents, and they could imagine the business there would be from 12,000. His own correspondence was larger than many a business man’s, and if the electorate were nine times as large how could he possibly do anything for them? However proportional representation might work in a closely populated country like Belgium it was impossible to satisfy the needs of the people of New Zealand.

He had done his best to see to their requirements in the matter of roads and bridges, and on this account had been called the “roads and bridges” member. But he claimed that no member had taken a greater interest in Imperial politics than he had. They r must help the Empire together, because on it depended their security and prosperity. There were people who based their hopes for the future on the League of Nations. He himself was a supporter of the league, but at the same lime he would like to see such people devote more of their time to the support of the great league of nations already existing within the Empire. He was satisfied that on the continuance of the Empire and the maintenance of a good understanding with the United States, even more than on the League of Nations, depended the peace of the world. That was the one hope the world had of making war impossible. In. the. recent call that came to the dominions only New Zealand and Australia replied promptly with a promise of help. This and other ominous things made him fear whether the Empire, without revolution, or anything like that, might not simply dissolve away. It had taken the world more than 1000 years to recover from the break-up of the Roman Empire, and it would take the world more than 1000 years to recover from the break-up of the British Empire. It behoved every member of Parliament to do his utmost to conserve and strengthen this Empire of ours. In conclusion. Mr Malcolm said he had now represented them for 17 -years. On the first occasion he had told them that if he were elected ho would endeavour to run straight. That promise he could claim to have carried out. and if he were returned again he would continue to do so.—(Applause.) Questions on all sorts of subjects, were put to the candidate at the conclusion of his speech. One man asked if Mr Malcolm had any idea how long the Government was going to go on importing coal at ruinous prices and then wondering why the railways did not pay. Mr Malcolm said he understood no fresh orders had been placed for some time. It was not long since the trains were not running at all for want of coal, and they should not complain about the importing of coal since the country could not produce enough for its needs. In answer to another question on the same point. Mr Malcolm said the accounts were handled by the Treasury, and the Railway Department was charged according to what it used. Of course, it used the greater part, of the coal. Asked if lie would favour preferential voting, Mr Malcolm said he would not. The present system was imperfect, but it was the best ‘ working system they had. The trouble was that it was not preferential voting but antipathy voting, and was used to keep one man out rather than to put another man in. He had always doubted the wisdom of having a strong Opposition, because it was difficult for any Government in such a case to put through any measures of importance.

Mr Malcolm was repeatedly tackled about the civil service cut, but he maintained that it was a cut not in wages, but bonuses. When asked if he did not think it strange that not one case in 50,000 had been found under the hardship clause, Mr Malcolm said he did not know if it was, because the Government had treated the service with great generosity.—(Laughter.) In reply to another questioner he said that it was not the case that millers were not allowed to buy wheat that had failed to pass the grader, but he did not know if they were allowed to make it into flour. He told another inquirer that the Act for the reform of the Legislative Council had not been put into operation because when the National Government was in power the Liberals insisted that it should n °A Voice: What about the three years * J Christie asked: Is it a fact that Mr Massey, when the meat pool was under consideration, had informatior that prices were going to rise and t-ha-c he held it back? Mr Malcolm replied: believe that to be absolutely without foundation. The next question was: If Mr Massey is returned and he decides to make a further cut in public service wages next session would you support it if the cost of living has not fallen? Mr Malcolm replied that the Government already had power to make a third cut. Mr Massey was not going to make it - , ~ \ Voice: Until after the elections. Mr Malcolm: If he can possibly avoid it * In reply to another inquiry from the same source" if he would support a fourth cut Mr Malcolm said that was a hypothetical case, but on the general question he would be prepared for any necessary sacrifice to enable New Zealand to pay her wav. even if Parliamentarians had to go without any salary.-—(Laughter.) TTe answered. to a complaint llini the cost of the war had not been distributed equally, that it had been intended to make a cut of 10 per cent, all round, but this had been departed froftl. as it had boon desired to affect the small mail least, Mr R, Benton moved a vote of thanks to and confidence in the candidate. Tt was suggested, however, that those present

should give the candidate a hearty vote of thanks and show their confidence “or otherwise” in him on polling day, and the motion was carried heartily in this form.