MINISTER AT WINTON.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 75, 5 May 1914, Page 3

MINISTER AT WINTON.

I HON. F. M. B. FISHER. A GOOD RECEPTION. Press Association. , WINTON, May 4. The Hon. F. M. B. Fisher delivered a political address at Winton this evening in the largest hall available. Despite the very wet and cold weather, the number of people present was estimated at twelve hundred, and a special train was run from Invereargill to convey people from stations en route. The leader of the Opjtosition delivered a recent address at Winton in a smaller hall. Mr Fisher was tendered a dinner by members of the Reform Party. The Minister, on entering the hall, was received with continued applause. The Mayor of Winton presided, and in introducing the Minister asked for a fair and impartial hearing. j Mr Fisher, on rising to speak, was I greeted with loud applause, which was j frequently renewed throughout the j meeting. Mr Fisher referred to the statement of the Leader of the Opposition to the effect that the Reform Government had not fulfilled it's pledges. The Liberal Party expected the Reform Government to do in two years what it had not done in twenty-one years, i (Applause.) Sir Joseph Ward had stated that the Reform Government had [ not reduced the cost of living, but did not mention that the cost of living avas higher when he went out of office than before. Sir Joseph Ward referred to i the land monopoly, but made no mention of the brewing monopoly, which had remained untouched for twenty-one years. (Loud applause.) The subjects f>f . proportional representation and preferential voting, of which members of the Liberal Party seemed now to think so much, had remained unsettled when the Liberals went out of ofiice. (Applause.) Sir Joseph Ward did not think of his proposal that members should be elected by the people to the position of Minister of the Crown when he appointed Sir John Fiudlay to the position of Leader of the Counci 1, nor did Sir Joseph Ward think of his proposal whon the members of the Mackenzie Ministry -were appointed. (Loud applause.) The Liberal Party failed to open up Native land because they had Sir James Carroll sitting on the safety-valve. (Laughter and applause.) The leader of the Opposition was teiliug the people that the Massey Government had done nothing witli the Local Government Bill, but lie did not mention the fact that his party had introduced about 130 Bills on this question, but had gone no further. (Applause.) The Liberal Party had done l nothing with regard to the establishment of agricultural colleges. Lincoln College was.the only one established, and Avas only open to the rich. The Minister predicted that before very long something would be done to provide colleges for educating the youths of the country. Agricultural colleges should be free place colleges. These, the Minister said, were reasons why the Liberals went out of office. To sum up, Sir Joseph Ward was put out of office because he did not do the things which he had the power to do, and the' Reform Party was put into office to liberalise and reform. (Applause.) The Minister referred to the downfall of Sir Joseph Ward. His party consisted at one time of 64. The Liberal j Party had appointed the Legislative (Council, with the exception of six life members, but when a Council.leader was wanted Sir Joseph Ward evidently re!cognised they were all incompetent, so ■ he went outside and appointed Sir John J Fiudlay ami gave him K.C.M.G., K.C., |J.P. after his name. (Loud applause.) ! When another Minister was wanted he ! went over to the Opposition and took I Mr T. Mackenzie. Sir Joseph Ward had | stated in past years that compulsory I training was impossible, that the totalijsator and bookmakers should be abolishjed, fo he set up a Racing Commission which brought in recommendations enItirely to the detriment of country clubs. I Mr llogg, member for Masterton, was ■appointed to the Ministry, but evidently •he disagreed with Sir Joseph Ward, and I he went out. Mr M'Nab was to go out, I but he got pushed out. (Loud laughter 'and applause.) The Hon. Geo. Fowlds ! went out before he got pushed out. (Con- ; tinned laughter.) The Dreadnought was given without the consent of .Parliament. A statement would be found telegraphed from I Australia in about March, 1909, that the ; Sydney "Daily Telegraph" had stated that a" great opportunity lay before Australian statesmen to offer a Dreadnought to the Imperial Government. New Zealand got in first. (Laughter.) No comImunication could be found showing that !a great crisis was impending to prompt I the gift. The crii'fc was followed by a

trip Home and it was not until afterwards that the people realised that it was not wise for any man in this country, no matter what the circumstances might be, to impose such a heavy burden without consulting Parliament. (Loud applause.) It was the member for Awarua who designed the Second Ballot Act to kill the present Government, but jit killed the Liberals. All these things helped to kill the Liberals. The last by-election showed the feeling of the people towards the Liberal Party. Lyttelton, Grey, and Egmont, all these seats were held by Liberals for many years. A statement had been made that the present Government assumed office by the votes of political turncoats. These men had been elected to vote for Sir Joseph Ward, but when the Mackenzie Ministry came in there was no Sir Joseph Ward to support, and the turncoats showed a high order of intelligence by supporting the present Government. (Continued . laughter and applause.) Dealing with finance, Sir Joseph Ward had stated that the present.: Government had borrowed twelve millions in two years. Mr Russell (ex-Liberal Minister), speaking at Gore, said that the present Government should have borrowed two millions more, but it did hot do so because it was the friend of the money-lender, and wanted to keep down the rate of interest. (Laughter.) Dealing with defence, the Minister, stated that f Sir Joseph Ward had' called the Government's/'proposals the toy navy, whilst Mr Myers, Liberal member for Auckland East, had endorsed the Government's action. ' How caul J the presovt Government please the Opposition when they were divided amongst themselves? (Laughter.) When Sir Joseph Ward had stated that the present Government had borrowed twelve millions ho omitted to state that five and a-lialf millions was for redemption of loans raised . by the Liberal Party. The Mackenzie Ministry raised four* and a-half millions; three and three-quarter millions of the twelve millions \y.\s for public works; two million for advances to settlers and advances to workers, and £670,000 for land settlement and Native lands. What was wanted in this country was access to land and land settlement. Sir Joseph Ward had stated that the Reform Government had increased taxation by 10/3 per head, but in computing his figures he took the last year of his reign and the first year of the Reform Administration. He had since withdrawn the statement, and it was found that for the last year y of the Liberal Ministry taxation had increased by 6/4, whilst for the first year of the Reform Ministry it was 3/11. (Applause.) Dealing with land monopoly, the Minister held the view that the policy of confiscation was not justified, but that the owner of an estate should be paid fair value for it. The hardships endured by the early settlers had to be remembered. They had bought the land and paid cash for it when money was scarce. The Minister held the view that large estates had to go, but the owners should be p,3 fair value for their holdings. Large estates should be subdivided and brought into use by a graduated system of increasing taxation extending over a number of years, that would without hardship gradually extinguish large holdings. The graduated land tax had been increased and a revenue of £BI,OOO had been received. Dealing with land for settlements, the Minister quoted the following return:— In 1912, 44,447 acres were purchased for £381,483; in 1913, 52,009 acres were purchased, for £428,004; in 1914, 140,692 acres were purchased for £509,606. For the short term of the Massev Government 3393 persons were settled on 1,092,891 acres, which included pastoral leases, thus accounting for the large area. The Massey Government was quoted as the friend of large land-owners, but the large landowner nourished at the end of the Liberal term. The Minister dealt with the brewing monopoly on the lines of his recent speeches, and predicted that the time was coming when this large profit-mak-ing industry would be dealt with. The Minister dealt at some length with the subject of naval defence. Sir Joseph Ward had talked of the enormous burdens of-defence, but who was responsible for it? The Liberal Government had passed the Compulsory Training Act and given the Dreadnought, and had increased the subsidy to the Navy. Sir Joseph Ward had proposed a scheme to the Imperial Conference which meant 10/- per head to every person in New Zealand, and would have cost for the navy £455,000 per annum. He proposed the expeditionary force in regard to which the Hon. J. Allen had received some severe criticism; in fact, Sir Joseph, Ward had driven up defence expenditure in every way. The present naval policy of the Reform Government was set out. by the Minister as follows: — FiiMt, the Reform Government vftould like the. Imperial Government to tfarry j out the 1909 agreement providing for two Bristol cruisers, two destroyers, and three submarines; second, if the agreeI ment cannot be carried out, the Im-

perial Government h' asked to withdraw the obsolete ships that are stationed here and give something more modern; third, if the Imperial' Government cannot see its way to do this, then it is proposed to ask'Parliament'to procure a modern ship and use the present subsidy towards her cost „ and maintenance; fourth, in any case, none of the proposals will be acted upon until the Defence Conference takes place next year; fifth, the Government does not ask as a return for its small contribution to Imperial defence, any share in declarations upon peace or war or diplomacy. The £IOO,OOO contribution to eighty millions of defence expenditure in Great Britain does not and cannot entitle the Dominion to full partnership rights at the present time. As the contributions have gone up, the effective protection of the country has 'gone down from twelve vessels in 1905, with a tonnage of. 35,735, and a contribution of £40,000, to three vessels in 1913 with a tonnage j of 6845 and a cdntribtition of £240,000, j which includes interest and sinking fund I on the Dreadnought. The whole naval position has changed, since Australia has now her own navy,; and New Zealand is deprived oTT £he advantages' of the Australian subsidy. The Act of last year made special" provision that as soon as war should be declared, if New Zealand, had a ship of her own it would pass automatically under the control of the Admiralty. Sir Joseph Ward was confusing, and confounding the issue. Naval defence Was becoming a party question, because a party leader was making it so. (Loud applause.) The Minister then referred to the strike question, and stated that it would be the main issue at the General Elections. Murmurs were heard of an alliance between the Liberals and the Red Feds. Mr J. Hanari, member for invercargill, was present at the' birth of the Bed Federation, and helped to shape the industrial monster. When Mr Webb stood for Grey Mr M'Nab, a former Liberal Minister, telegraphed to him and wished him success. When the crisis was at its highest, Sir Joseph Ward made his notorious Red Fed speech in the House. When Sir Joseph Ward spoke in Auckland the Red Feds hooted the Mayor, because he had done his duty, and cheered* Sir Joseph Ward, who had rendered them some service. Sir Joseph -Ward now courted the Labour Party by declaring that the specials were not necessary, and that the strike could have been .settled in two days. Then there was the spectacle of Mr Semple, who lost his job on the Red Federation, and Mr David Nathan, a red-hot Wardite, who lost his job on the Bank of New Zealand directorate, attacking the Government in Australia on the strike question. All these things pointed to au alliance between the Liberals and the Red Feds. Continuing, the Minister stated* that it wasj certain that the Liberal Party could j not attain office except with the aid ofj the Bed Feds, and if they did attain office the Red Feds would extract legislation to suit their purposes. In concluding his speech on the strike the Minister was continuously cheered. The : Minister then dealt at length with the pensions system, stating that at present it was a penalty upon thrift. The only solution of the difficulty was to do*away with the restriction on the home altogether and let a man get the benefit of his thrift and the benefit of a State pension as well. The Minister advocated a pension for the injured and the blind, and was loudly cheered. Mr Fislier concluded his address by thanking the people for turning out in such large numbers on such a bad night. On resuming his seat the Minister was loudly applauded. Questions were asked and answered, and finally a hearty vote of thanks to the Minister and confidence in the j Reform Government was carried unanijmously. A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded a very enthusiastic meeting. The Minister will speak at Rivcrton to-morrow evening.