REFORM CAMPAIGN

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 69, 1 November 1928, Page 8

REFORM CAMPAIGN

MK V.’ALTER AT PUMEMOAHUI VOTE OF CONFIDENCE PASSED. Mr J. O’Neill presided over a meeting of electors addressed by Mr E. Walter, M.P., at Pukengahu ' last night and said there was iittl e need to introduce Mr Walter, wl]o was well known first as a successful c'ounty chairman and later as the member for the district. Mr Walter dealt' tvith the achievements of the Reform Party, v. mch, he said, was the only one in New Zealand to-day that was fit to govern. The Unified Party, he said, was led by Sir Joseph Ward, who was not in good health and who Mr Walter feared was not likely to be the leader for long. As far as Mr Poison was concerned, one did not know what side of the rail he would fall off on. The United Party could not find any one fib put up against him and so imported a man who was a large squatter owning thousands of sheep and a very wealthy man. That was the kind of man who was brought in by one-time Liberals to fight for them in a democratic electorate of small holdings such as Stratford. Mr Poison would not own the United Party, but the United Party owned him which was a most peculiar position. Mr Poison had also gone up to Putairo near Rotorua and took part in the selection of a candidate for the Country Party, then he came back here as an independent 1 to be supported by the United Party.

Mr Walter went on to defend the Government policy on lines of previous speeches dealing with public department education, pensions admin istration, social services taxation, land and trade finance.

The country, he claimed, was as sound as it could be, and if the Government were kept in power it .would remain so.

Questions were asked and answered as under: Is the overseas dbt 140 millions — Just a shade more.

Is the overseas debt 140 millions? — millions? —Not quite that just a little under. It is over £5,000,000. If that is so and the imports exceed the imports by 32 millions, would you say our position was sound —The imports do not only represent money but goods used in the development of the country.such as machinery, etc. Do you nlot think that imports must be paid for? Is the payment for them not money going out of the countryf—Yes; it is actual money going out, but it is represented by imports coming in. Well then, you think the Finance Minister was wrong when he said that a country’s trade balance was not good if the exports did not exceed the imports and the overseas interest bill? —I question whether the Finance Minister said that. It is a fact that yoh said in Stratford that since Reform came into power, roads were being made at tlie rate of 80 miles a, week and railways at the rate of 1 mile a fortnight, f —l said that in a speech delivered at a function in Wellington the cheif engineer, Mr Furkett had said that.

But those figures are in the Reform manifesto. —-I have not read it—l quoted Mr Furkett.

Well, I would suggest that! you do not use those figures again Avithout making inquiries, because Reform claims to have built more roads than exist in the country. At the conclusion of th e address, on the motion of Mr Merton, a hearty

vote of thanks and an expression of confidence in Mr Walter was carried.