REFORMS SOLE POLICY

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 55, 11 October 1928, Page 3

REFORMS SOLE POLICY

TO CATCH VOTES. 11 “NEWSLETTER” extracts. Perhaps worse than the increased d taxation in New Zealand, said Mr s W. J. Poison at the Town Hall last - night, had he on the increase in the t' cost of living and for that the Go- - vernment must tak e full responsibilf ity. In this connection he wished 3' to discuss the attitude of the Gb--3 vernment as disclosed in the Reform 3 publication known as the “Newslett ter.” This paper reported a speech made to the Reform i Party conference by the Hon. - 0. J. Hawken, Minister for Agrii culture, in which he said i he knew the cost of bread had been increased by the im- ■ position of a duty of £5 10s per ton on flour. At th e present time, said the speaker, the cost of highest quality flour in Melbourne was £lO 5s i-r ton, freight to New Plymouth could be reckoned at £1 10s, primage costs at 2s, exchange at Is 6d and insurance at 9d, making a total landed cost in Taranaki of £ll 19s 3d. South Island flour on the other hand cost £l6 ss, less 21 per cent, equal t;o- 8s 2d, or £ls 16s lOd per ton. Freight to New Plymouth cost £l, and, allowing another 21 per cent. ’to the merchant, the purchasing price would be £l6 8s 6d per ton. The Government, however, placed a duty on the Australian flour which brought the price in New Zealand up to £l7 9s 3d. This meant that electors had to pay 5s mor e for every lOOlbs' of flour than would otherwise have been the case. A ton of New Zealand flour mad e 700 loaves against 720 loaves from a ton of Aus- ( tralian flour, but even if each was accepted at 700, the tax meant practically 2d on every 11b loaf consumed in New Zealand. Why was this?

MINISTER EXPLAINS. , Mr Hawken, in ch e “Newsletter,’ disclosed th e reason. He wrote; “I find in the North Island man] who strongly object to the Custoir duties. I have found also thai amongst the farmers there is a righi in a great many cases —they object lb the flour duties we hav e imposed to help the South Island people. As I have explained to people in Taranaki, if we abolish th e wheat duties what would happen to southern farmers? We might only get orie--.aii our members returned from the South Island. I do not think we would get any more.’’ Thus, said Mr Poison, the whole secret was given away. The object of the duty was to get Reform members back into Parliament. It was a cynical and frank admission of a Minister of the Crown. Quoting further from Mr Hawken’s writing, he read: “Then, again, country members often criticise us because l of the duties we impose to help secondary industries. But we have to consider our town members. -We

cannot get on as a party without the town m'embers, and we know perfectly well that if we abolish the duties, our town supporters would have great difficulties in retaining their seats. We must go on helping th e town industries wherever we can.” Commenting upon this statement, Mr Poison said it was obvious that' Mr Hawken and hi s party had no policy but that of catching votes. AFRAIt) OP A SPLIT. Then, again, in the same publication, Mr Hayvicen wrote: “There is only one danger. I am not a bit afraid of the combination againsf m e but I am afraid of a split in our ranks. We must stand together. Ter e must be give and take, and I feel sure that, with better times

ahead, the common sense of the people must make them see the neces-

sity for unity—town and country, North and South. The whole Reform

party must stand together because w e have an enemy which we must keep out at any cost.”

Touching { upon these' sentiments, Mr Poison said that 2d a loaf was a mere bagatelle' in the “giv e and take” policy of Mr Hawken and his party. “We give and the Government takes.” That was the policy of Reform. Did ,it reduce the cost of living, remove unemployment, or provide settlement. No. Did workers of the Dominion realise

that £5 10s per ton was placed on flour in order to keep the Reform

party in Parliament. Did they understand that they were paying this frightful toll to enable a corrupt Government without principle and without policy, to retain its position on the Treasury benches. No other Government that the speaker knew of made a practice of taxing bread, and moreover the suggestion that the South Island farmers benefited because of the tax was not correct, either, because Distributees, Ltd. were the only buyers of flour. The y had a monopoly. Let farmers tak e note of this final sentence quoted from 5* Hawken’s