ELECTION NOTES

Otago Witness, Issue 3584, 21 November 1922, Page 26

ELECTION NOTES

Mr K. S. Williams is the only candidate to whom no opposition has been announced. He is seeking ■ re-election for the Bay of Plenty in the Reform interest At his Roxburgh meeting, Mr Horn drew attention to the fact that last session the Public Works vote for roads and bridges in the North Island was £895,985, while the vote for a simi'ar purpose in the South Island was onlv £294,822. He hinted that South Island members do not intend to allow treatment of this kind to be continued. CHRISTCHURCH LADY CANDIDATE. CHRISTCHURCH, November 13. Mrs A. E. Herbert, Independent candidate for Avon, had a good hearing on her first address to-night. She dealt chiefly with social questions. WAKATIPU ELECTORATE. Mr J. Ritchie, Reform candidate for Wakatipu, addressed a large meeting at Heriot on Thursday, 9t.h. He had good met.inegs at Edievale and Crookston on the 10th, and at Wilder], Moa Flat, and Dunrobin on the 11th. Mr Ritchie is well pleased with the results of his campaign m the southern portion of the electorate. His reception at Crookston was exceptionally cordial. MR J. HORN, M.P., AT ST. BATHANS. Mr James Horn. M.P.. the Liberal candidate for Wakatipu, addressed a large and enthusiastic audience in Campbell’s Hall, St. Bathans, on the IC-th inst. Mr Neil Nicclson occupied the chair, and briefly introduced the candidate. Mr Horn spoke for art hour and a-half, and gave an interesting address, his remarks throughout being punctuated with applause. At the conclusion of the address the following resolution was unanimously carried amidst load applause:—“That this meeting heartily thanks Mr Horn for his address, and fully appreciates his efforts on behalf of his constitutents, and has every confidence in him as member for Wakatipu.” PRIME MINISTER AT NAPIER. NAPIER, November 14. Mr Massey ■ addressed 2000 people in the Municipal Theatre to-night.. Though there were a number of interjections the Prime Minister was generally well received and was accorded a sympathetic hearing. At the close a vote of thanks was carried with intense enthusiasm. Mr Massey followed closely the lines of his speeches in other parts of the North Island. LARGE AND ENTHUSIASTIC MEETING. HASTINGS, November 15. The Prime Minister was given a most enthusiastic reception to-night, when he addressed the largest audience yet seen at any political meeting in Hastings, riunoreds of late comers were unable to gain admission, tho theatre being packed everywhere, including the stage. The address followed the lines of the Prime Minister’s speeches in the north, and at Napier last night. A few interjections, which were humorously dealt with and answered effectively, were the only indications that the audience was not entirely with the Government. A hearty vote of thanks and wishing Mr Massey success at the elections was moved by Mr ,11. M. Campbell, and was carried almost, unanimously, .and the meeting dosed with loud applause. The Prime Minister returns to Wellington to-morrow. lION W. NOSWORTHY. ASHBURTON, November 14. The Hon. W. Nosworthv (Minister of Agriculture) addressed the "initial meeting of his campaign to-night. He had an a*' \ five hearing. He emphasised the difficult period of administration through which the Government had passed and said that practically every country in the Empire had either during or since the war changed its Government. New Zealand was the exception. He acknowledged the help the Opposition had given during the strenuous days of the war. He was satisfied the Reform Government had done the utmost possible to bring the country through the most critical period in its history, commencing with the 1913 striire, the influenza epidemic, the war, and the post-war slump. Dealing with finances he gave comparative statements of expenditure, and emphasised that a great deal of the largely increased expenditure was due to causes over which the Government. had no control. He combated the contention that the financial position of New Zealand was had, and quoted figures to show that the Government had not starved public works. The Government introduced economies to the extent of £'5.190,419. which was a satisfactory achievement. He defended the cat in tile civil servants salaries and quoted figures cf the average salaries to show that, the position of the men- in New Zealand was better than in Australia and elsewhere. In regard to taxation he stated that tn 1914 the taxation per hear! was £5 10s Id; in 1921 it had increased to £l7 4s 4d: and in decreased to £l2 14s 7d. which showed that the. Government was alive to the necessity of reducing taxation. Die revision of the incidence of taxation was one of the planks of the Government's platform, which it was pledged to further. The Government also intended to take advantage of obtaining cheaper money During recent years the' land had been ■starved for want of money. He defended the Government’s policy with regard to soldiers’ settlement, which he said was buddy creditable. In dealing with the activities of the Agricultural Department he referred to the world’s flock shortage of 100.000,000. and said that, the New Zealand shortage was 400.000. but the world shortage would provide a good opportunity for the industry in

New- Zealand, if we built up our flocks, lie explained the policy in regard to the wheat guarantee, and said he had kept his bargain with the growers, and defended his action with regard to the purchase of surplus wheat. He claimed that the Meat. Pool had resulted in big reductions in freights, etc., and he was convinced that. the. dairy pool would confer benefits on the dairying industry in spite of the opposition of proprietary concerns. When he left polities he hoped to leave the producers ot tile dominion in a highly organised state. With regard to tho shipping hold-up. he said it was engineered by agitators, who, because the award did not suit them, treated it as a scrap of paper. The seamen would find a strike bad policy from a political point of view. Tn dealing with the Government's land policy, he advocated longer tenures for back-country runs. The Board of Trade’s transaction in sugar had saved the country £5,000,000. He condemned Labour's policy, and said proportional representation was rotten. / He would sooner go out of polities than have it. He was accorded a vote of thanks. ELLESMERE. Sir Heaton Rhodes opened his campaign at Southbridge on the 14th. He said this would probably be the last campaign in which he would contest a Parliamentary seat. He first faced the electors of Ellesmere 27 years ago. Sir Heaton Rhodes received a unanimous vote of thanks. INVERCARGILL ELECTORATE. INVERCARGILL, November 14. Mr James Armstead has been chosen as Reform candidate for the Invercargill seat. Mr Armstead was formerly a solicitor practising here, and is well known locally. He supports Mr Massey on all questions. There are now three candidates: The Hon. J. A. Hanan, Mr H. J. Farrant (Labour), and Mr Armstead. THE WESTLAND SEAT. GREYMOUTH, November 14. Mr James I). Lynch (Mayor of Greymouth) decided to-day to contest the Westland seat as an Independent Reform candidate. The news had been awaited for sometime, as it had been an open secret that Mr Lynch' intended to stand; but he candidly announced that his candidature would be dependent on the fmanical hacking of his supporters, and apparently this has been forthcoming. The election in Westland will now be very interesting, a§ there are four candidates in the field. MR JOHN MENZIES’S CAMPAIGN. WESTPORT, November 14. At the Theatre Royal to-night Mr John Menzies, Independent candidate, addressed a large and enthusiastic meeting of electors, and was given a very attentive hearing. _ Mr Menzies said he was seeking election a? an Independent candidate—independent so far as voting with any party for a particular Bill was concerned, but on a no-confidence motion he would vote with the Reform Party. The candidate was accorded a vote of thanks by acclamation. MR MO S 3 AND THE UNION S.S. COMPANY. Mr C. M. Mess, Labour candidate for Dunedin West, speaking on the 14th inst., in referring to the shipping service under tho Lnion Steam Shin Company’s, control he stated that of t l >© -...p-,, £1.000,000 on September 30, 1912, only £BCO.(XX> was called up. . n February. , . the 200,000 shares remaining unissued were offered to shareholders then on the register, pro rata to their holdings, at a premium of 10s per share. Mr Moss went on to. state that tn the year 1913 the shares of the Union Company were converted from £lO to £1 shares, and the capital of the company was increased from £1,090,000 to £3,000.090. Of the additional £2.000,000. £1,000,000 was on paper called up and allotted to ordinary shareholders by way of preference shares. For example. Sir James Mills (then managing director), who held 20,000 ordinary shares, and Mr Charles Holds worth (then general manager), who held 10,COO shares, were allftcated 20,000 and 10,000 preference shares respectively without costing them one single farthing. The principle of this applied to every share of the £1,000,000 preference shares. It was a watering of capital, and on these shares a dividend of per cent, per annum was assured to tho holder. In plain understandable words, every dividend paid on a preference share was a robbery legalised from the labour of men and women who produced it by their labour, while tihe holder did not invest a single farthing for the dividend he received. After a few questions had been answered a vote of thanks and confidence was carried unanimously. WAITAKI. Mr John Bitchener, M.P.. the Reform candidate for the Waitaki electorate, has addressed meetings at Sandhurst, Oiekaike, Island Cliff, Taka rah i, Omarama, and Duntroon, and was everywhere well received and accorded votes of thanks and confidence, and in several .instances votes of confidence in tho Massey Government were also carried. CLUTHA. Mr A. 8. Malcolm recently visited the townships round Lawrence and in the C'lutha Valley. Save at one or two places where the hours prevented it, he had good audiences. At Wharetoa, Mr Weir, in proposing a vote of confidence, said that Mr Malcolm, both before the war and since,'had shown himself able to forecast events as few-, if any, others could do, and that was one of the great tests of statesmanship. At Tuapeka Mouth, in proposing a similar vote, Mr Pitt said that Mr Malcolm had proved an admirable representative of Clutha and would no doubt be an equally good representative of the new district. If only for his splendid work in hospital matters, he deserved the admiration and thanks of the whole Clutha community. MAT AURA. The Hon. G. J. Anderson had a very successful tour of the Tapanui district last week, and addressed good meetings at Kelso and Tapanui on Friday arid Saturday evenings respectively. At the latter meeting h© spoke for close on two hours, and his address was generally appreciated. He appears to have very favourably impressed this section of his electorate, which is nowincluded in Mataura. On Saturday afternoon Mr Anderson ot tended the ceremony of unveiling a roll of honour in the Kelso Presbyterian Church, and gave a short address. He visited the State nursery, and was wailed upon by various deputations with small requests to make.

MR STATHAM SEEKS RE-ELECTION. Mr C. E. Statham, who is seeking reelection as an Independent for Dunedin Centra!, addresses the electors last week. He said he had left the Reform party because, in his opinion, the party had failed to move with the times and lacked business ability. He claimed that, though he had changed his political associations, he had adhered unswervingly for the principles and ideals for which he stood. He favoured proportional represent!ion, abolishing the Legislative Council, and in its place have a revising body of about 15 members representative of the various interests in the Dominion. He strongly favoured a State Bank run on sound business lines, and declared that the creation of Rural Credit Associations in lieu of- Agricultural Banks was a sham and humbug. The most important plank in his platform was universal superannuation. Ho quoted figures to show that if superannuation, instead of being confined to the divil service only, were made universal it would be possible to pay £IOO per annum to each person who had lived the requisite number of years in the Dominion on reaching the age of 63 years. In the case of a. wife and a husband each would receive £IOO as of right, and there would be no deduction as under the present pension laws for moneys earned or saved. One of the blots on our present pension system was the penalty imposed ur> on thrift and industry. He dealt with the crippling burden of taxation under which the Dominion was staggering, and stressed the necessity of reorganising Government departments on business lines. Credit was given the Government in respect to soldiers’ pensions; but their failure to realise the urgent necessity of writing down without delay the values of much of the land settled by soldiers was adversely criticised. The. people should be enouraged to use the railways by reducing fares and freights. Mr Statham was accorded a vote of thanks, a vote of confidence not being desired, as contrary to the spirit of the ballot. TIIE NAPIER SEAT. WELLINGTON, November 17. Regarding the suggestion that Mr Massey would try and get Mr Vigor Brown to stand down in favour of Mr Ma.jon and so avoid vote-splitting, Mr Massey stated last night that he could not forget that Mr Brown had been most loyal to him as leader during the last. Parliament. In the circumstances he could not go back on MiBrown, and did not intend to do so. WAKATIPU. Mr James Ritchie, Reform candidate for Wakatipu, held meetings at Raes Junction and Beaumont on Monday. On Tuesday he spoke at Fruitlands, Tawliiti, and Roxburgh, and on the following clay held meetings at Coal Creek, Miller’s Flat, and Ettrick. AH these meetings were well attended, and the candidate received a good hearing. On Wednesday evening Mr Ritchie was asked by some of the men to visit the relief works between Beaumont and Miller’s Flat. He was met at the camp by a large number of the men, and after speaking for a short time and answering a number cf questions was accorded a very hearty vote of thanks. HON. AY. ' DOWNIE STEWART AND DUNEDIN WEST. The Hon. W. Downie Stewart, Minister of Internal Affairs, who is seeking re-elec tion for Dunedin West, and is opposed by Mr Moss, a Labour candidate, opened his campaign by speaking at Roslyn on the 16th inst. Alter referring to the disintegi alien of the Liberal Party, Mr Stewart said that in the Dunedin AVest contest there was a clear issue between tiie Labour Party and himself. He was entirely with the Labour Party in its desire to raise the standard of life for the wage-earner, abolish unemployment, provide good housing, pensions for the blind, the endowment of motherhood, and many other changes. These aims and objects were not the peculiar property of the Labour Party. To account for the Labour Party making such slow progress in New Zealand, he believed it took an unhappy turn 15 years ago, when it passed into the control of men who had drunk deeply at the wells of Continental Socialism, and imbibed all the jargon of the school of Karl Marx. In his opinion, there was a large and growing number of workers who had increasing confidence m Mr Massey as leader. In the interests of tho workers what was urgently wanted was to* square the yards of finance, live within our means, reduce the burden of taxation, and increase production. Until these matters were remedied all talk of social reform, of increased pensions, of motherhood, endowment, or of the right to work were mere phrases. Experience had shown that it- was on the rock of finance that every Labour Government had come to grief. The Reform Party did not believe in Labour's view that the State could do everything better than the individual, or that nationalisation cf the means of production, distribution, and exchange was a short out to the social milen ilium. If ever the Labour Party succeeded in nationalising all industries they would find themselves under a worse system of tyranny and slavery than anything they hail ever dreamt of. Mr Stewart' then went on to point- out what the Government had done in meeting the unemployed difficulty, the housing problem, checking the immigration of aliens and Asiatics, delaying the reduction of wages through the arbitration laws. He went cn to point out that the Government, of which lie was a member, had conducted the affairs of the country on safe and sound lines. It had improved the education, system, liberalised pensions, repatriated the soldiers more liberally and successfully than any ether part of the Empire, had encouraged secondary industries, carried cut large irrigation schemes, pushed on railway and road construction, helped the fruit, fishing, and dairy industries, and the farming industries, had expanded the system of maternity hospitals, reduced the hours of labour for workers and boys in woollen mills, arranged for proper payment for overtime, and increased the compensation payable to workers for partial or total incapacity. A unanimous vote of thanks and confidence iri Mr Stewart was carried. SPEECH BY PRIME MINISTER. REPLY TO CRITICISM. Af OKLAND, November 19. Tn the course of a political speech at Devonport last, night the Prime Minister said that finance was the big thing at present, and he was glad to be able to ,-av that there had been a decided improvement. Twelve months ago the position was extremely serious, but now a change had taken place. He looked forward to showing on March 31 a very creditable balance sheet. Some people seemed to think that the country could be carried on and developed with-

out borrowing money. It could not be done. These people seemed to forget tile war and the enormous expense which it had entailed. Mr Wilford, in his speech at Auckland, had made a great deal of what lie was ill the habit of calling the “stores scandal." He had quoted the Auditor-gene-ral as saying that- there had been a lot of extravagance in connection with the purchase of stores. The position was that Colonel Campbell, who was formerly Secretary of the Treasury, had pointed out certain weaknesses, and made suggestions winch had been carried out. “Before leaving for England last year,” said Mr Massey, “I arranged for the setting up of a Purchase Control Board, consisting of the heads of departments, with the Minister as chairman. Mr Coates is chairman, and I have tho best reasons for knowing that very considerable saving has been made.” He gave the Auditor-general every credit for being candid tn his report, but he was referring to (he system and not to the Government. A second point was (hat there was no audit of the stores. Mr Wilford said there was no reason why there should not lie one. “I may tell you that an audit of the stores is the law of the land,” Mr Massey said. “Apparently the Leader of tho Opposition doesn’t know that, and ho has been a member of the House for 20 years.”—(Laughter.) ‘ There is a good deal of mud-throwing going on —more than tho usual amount, I think,” said Mr Massey, “and if anyone has anything definite or any serious charge to make against the Government I am going to have it prebed to the bottom, and if it be proved then I am prepared to stand down and let someone else take my place ” —(Applause.) Tt had been suggested by Opposition candidates that there were scandals in regard to the purchase of land for soldiers’ settlement. "Let me tell you the Government as such has nothing to do with the purchase of land.” said Mr Massey. “I never saw any block from ihe time negotiations were started till they were completed, and tlie same applies to all the AJinixteis.” The matter was in the hands of the Land Purchase Boards and the various Land Boards Mr Massey made a spirited reply to various other criticisms of the leader of the Liberals.