THE LIBERAL CAMPAIGN.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 15, 8 May 1914, Page 2

THE LIBERAL CAMPAIGN.

MR FORBES AT TOKO. There were under a hundred present at the Coronation Hall, Toko, last night on the occasion of the address delivered by .Mr G. Forbes, Liberal M.P. for Hurnnui. The wet night undoubtedly was to blame for the rather thin audience. The speaker was given an excellent hearing throughout. At the conclusion of the address questions were asked for, but none were forthcoming. A vote of thanks, was passed to tlie speaker on the motion of Air -Milne, seconded by -Mr Chaiuey. Mr F orbes, in acknowledging the vote, said the meetings he had held in Taranaki showed that the Liberal outlook was very hopeful. Mr W. H. Were acted as chairman. POINTS FHOM THE SPEECH. Every time 1 have spoKen in Taranaki 1 have had a hue evening, and it is just fitting that this evening should be wet, otherwise L might have gone back to Canterbury with the idea that it never rained in Taranaki. (Laughter) .

There are still many Liberals on the Cheviot estate. The estate was' the first acquired, by the Liberals, and an attempt was made to manufacture an agitation by settlers for a reduction of rent. 'The Conservatives hoped by breeding this agitation to discredit the Liberals’ settlement policy, but despite somewhat hard times in the early years, only ten out of two hundred settlers on the estate could be got to attend the meeting called to foster the agitation for reduction of rent. In the estate 1 polled three times as much as the Conservative candidate, showing that despite their early struggles they still have confidence in the Government which gave them their start in life.

The present Government is not 'based on a solid foundation. They rely for their majority on four men who were elected as Liberals and who were not honest enough to resign when they changed sides. No Government can exist long on such a foundation.

Before last election the present Government had two main planks—reduction of borrowing and reduction of taxation. They have borrowed more than the Liberals in the zenith of their power ,and they have increased taxation by 3s 3d per head. It is as much demanded of a party as of a member that platform promises will be kept. If they cannot do as they promised the y should candidly admit that they have found difficulties which they cannot get over. ! , *■ * * * 1 One thing the Government had done was to reduce the taxation on incomes of £3OO to £SOO per annum, making a reduction which was equal to 3d per head of the ■ratepayer’s children- If a man had four children he would get a remission equal to a shilling a week. Wo pointed out that the remission was not sufficient to take the children to the pictures once a week; and a man with an income of £l4 per week would not care whether he got the remission or not. The Liberals opposed this remission on the ground that smaller incomes should first be dealt with, but Mr Allen seemed to be particularly concerned about the larger incomes and had no time to deal with the smaller incomes.

There is a secret valuation roll—the valuation by owners themselves of their properties, and the Government has power to take these properties at the figure fixed by the owners. The Minister for Lands is the only person who sees this roll, and- it is probable that under a Conservative Minister the valuation .would ho different to when it was seen by a Liberal Minister. I asked for a return showing how the present valuation compared with that under the Liberal Government, hut Mr Massey absolutely refused to supply it’. ■ That proves to me what class of the community Mr Massey represents. The return asked for is one which Parliament has a right to have. I will ask for it again next session.

Mr Massey promised to abolish the nominating principle in connection with the Legislative Council. He says he intends to nominate five or six members when Parliament meets, and with appointments already made he has nominated about twelve of his followers. That shows how sincere Mr Massey is. He introduced his reforming Bill in the Upper House, asking that House to commit suicide. Mr Massey knew very well that the Upper House would never pass the measure. If Mr Massey played poker he would be a good bluffer. His statement that he i intended to reform the Upper House I is one of the greatest pieces of bluff.

T!k> State Fire Insurance Department lias saved a great deal of money for the insurers of the country, but the administration of that Department is now in the hands of those who strained every effort to prevent the Department being set up. The first thing Mr Allen did when he got control of the Department was to allow borrowers from the Government to insure their property wherever they pleased and not with the Government Department as the Liberals insisted. The policy of the Government should he to increase the business of the Insurance Department in order to allow premiums to he reduced.

In the Public Trust Office the Government set up a commission to inquire into the law charges made by the office. This Commission reported to the Government that the work was being done at a loss. But the Public Trustee stated otherwise in his an-

nuai report, which report the Minister in charge (Mr Herdman) suppressed. Hut in that report it was shown that the i'ees received during 1912 totalled £2500, the salaries of the office’s legal officers was only dJ 1-500, and il the legal work' had been charged lor on the ordinary professional scale it would have cost at least £7OOO. The amending Bill passed last year was submitted to the Wellington Law Society before being circulated to members, which showed how much the Government was under the influence of the legal profession.

Mr Massey said he intended to repeal the Second Ballot and insert something more scientific, but ho had repealed the Second Ballot without putting in anything else. The Liberals put up a stonewall, which was squashed by the closure. The last time the closure was used in New Zealand was in 1881. The Conservatives were in power and were tinkering with the electoral laws in an endeavor to give themselves a lease-in-perpetuity of office. The Liberals of the day, Jed by the late Mr Sedclon, set up a stonenail, which was broken up by the closure. In the British House of Commons there had been, times when obstruction was reduced to a fine point, but the closure had never been applied, it being recognised that to do so would be a dangerous precedent.

The Reform Party said they were mi absolutely clean party—they were to be something just short ol pasteurised. But then there was the James letter—a piece of thimble-rigging worthy of a racecourse.

At Auckland Mr Massey said a politician should “keep as near to the truth as possible”—it was not necessary to tell the truth, but just to keep as near as possible. In some statements he makes Mr Massey gets a good deal wide of the truth,and if that is as near as he can get he should have another try.

The Government has stated that they are going in for a naval construction policy. In a country which has not yet finished its roads and railways it is one of the maddest courses which could be entered on.

When the present Government was on the platform they made a great number of promises and I thought that a set of saints had been discovered, though I 'could not think where they had been hidden. But the prool ot any Government, was in tnelr actions, which would indicate the people for whom it stood. ■»' * ' * First and foremost the Liberals intend to break up large estates. The ■big landholder, will be dealt with fairly, but the'Liberals will see that land is not aggregated in bigger bocks than the countp; sffiord.