THE ELECTIONS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 245, 19 November 1914, Page 2

THE ELECTIONS.

CHRISTCHURCH EAST. ; MR DAVEY'S MEETING. HOSTILE MOTION CARRIED. Mr T. H. Davey, Independent candidate for Christchurch East, addressed a

wel}-attended meeting in St. Saviour's Schoolroom, Sydenham, last evening. He ivaa. accorded a good hearing in the earlier part of his address, but towards the close matters became somewhat lively, and for about half an hour questions were hurled at the candidate in

rapid succession. At the conclusion an ' adverse motion was carried by a largo majority. The chairman said that, as a member «f Parliament, Mr Davey had done his duty, not only to Christchurch East,, but to New Zealand. Ho was not a man of

the shallow ■•'"'gassy' >' sort, but was a man of clear nvind. He -was- not-saddled ' . either to Massey, or. to Ward,; but he was out to support legislation that would be of benefit to the masses. (Applause.). . ■.',.. , ~... .. Mr Davey referred at the, outset to the war, and expressed- regret at the death of Lord Roberts. At his invitation the audience, as a mark of respect, *todd. So far as the war was concerned we in New Zealand were practically immune from its effects. But we must do our part in helping, by contingents of men. If it was necessary to send away anothor contingent, he felt sure they would be able to send away a body of men as good ap those who had already gone.

AN INDEPENDENT. • _ ■ ■ _ He was standing before them, he said, asking them to send him to Wellington as an Independent. He claimed that independence was the right of any man. He did --not; wish to -go to Wellington again tiecj 'to any one man dr patty of ' men. He would willingly say yes of no to jany question the people liked'to ask him, but he could not'go back again condemned to do what his.pleaders told

him, and break the pledges 1 he made to ' ths peopje. He could not, would not, do that for any man alive.,. It had been said he was standing as., an Independent because he was chagrined at not being elected Chairman, of Committers. That was in 1910, but in 1911 he had stood as a Liberal. If he had been so disappointed he would not have Btood as a Liberal:. 1 Hewas also told he , was not standing as "a'Liberal because he w# not given a'J> lace in Mr Thomas Mackenzie's Cabbiet;'-He had opposed Mir ejection as Prime Minister Now , Ziealand. He thought it was the. worst day New Zealand ever had when they placed Mr Mackenzie as Liberal Prime Minister. The strength in the.House,at the first division was" 38 all,:another Speaker (Sir Arthur. GuioniessX His vote,, as was customSir .theV Liberal 3?arty met iS vand Mr Mackenzie was That was-one. of the taingsthat was ev:er done, by the Liberals i»; J?ew Zealand. Whe^-Mr Mae- , kenzie left for England as sigh Com- / -missioner for New Zealand, not«, single member of the Liberal Party wished him good-bye. That was what, they ~thought of him. It would have been much abetter if Sir Joseph Ward had resigned immediately after, the. elections. Mr Massey would then have be;en called* on to form, a Ministry, and he could not have,done ,so. ; ,H„e;,; thqught,. v the.be / st op-.. missed because we" did "not; '''■ nave "an Act on k s! fo^'thd'iappomt- • : ment'"bf an • elective that provision had been in a much better* Ministry would have been in existence than was,the case during the 3aat three years. - ' ; v:' ~! MR MACKENZIE'S STATEMENTS. W the way up froni Christchurch to Wellington Mr Mackenzie had" told Dr Te Rangihiroa, Mr Witty, arid' himself that he did not intend to the office' of Prime Minister against Mr Millar, if the latter 'wanted it. When they got to Wellington they found that Mr Mackenzie'was ; stanxlingv He' never wished to again gd through such a miserable |ot of intrigues as took 'place on that occasion.. Before. Mr. Maickerizie had lpft for England the speaker had asked him if it were true that hr was going, and his reply was: '' The'papera. say so." Fourteen days before the de.feat -bf the Ministry Mr hnewjthat he was,going toEingland as" High j Commissioner. Matters had been ao arranged with regard tO f . the Egmont seat that Mr Wilkinson was called by cable, and the Liberal Party not only lost Mr Mackenzie, but he gave the seat to Mr Massey. Mr Massey declared at Pukekohe a few days ago that he knew, and members of the .Ministry kriew, 14 "Jays before that Mr Mackenzie was gong to England. .n : ' PRIVATE MEMBERSCBiLLS.

Mr Davey said he could* compliment the newspapers of NeSvb&eaiand on the truthfulness of theiis utterances. They, did ijot n>ind ..whethe? ifcheix statements were, accurate or. not t , so long as they killed "the other He proceeded to criticise; the ; comments of the "Lyttelton regard, to taxation. After dealing v&pi , the allegations against the Governirfent, that the taxation per head. h£,d \ been increased, Mr Davey said a Square deal had not. been given to Labour during the last three years. He complained that private members could »pt; get Bills through the House. Bills introduced by private members, he said, no<matter how good they might be, could'ndt be passed under the present party >. system unless the Prime Minister liked to aecept them. All the-brains of the,, House were not with the Ministry. One of the worst features of party Government was that Ministers thought it wrong to allow a private member to- pass, a Bill of • any importance unless it~w6s approved by them. Some of the Bills were put through,, and then cut but by "the gentlemen up above' ' at trie fbehest of the Minister. That was the treatment that Governments gave to private members. He would like to 'compliment the members for Christchurch South, RiccaKt'on, and Lyttelton, Who had tried to get clauses passed. In 1&12,' when Mr Massey brought down his. Land Bill, Mr Davey said -he moved that, instead of going on the money market in order to buy large estates, it should be provided that men owning large blocks of land should cut it up within a certain num"ber of years, failing which v the Government would do so. He; was*;tohl by the Minister that it was a thing- for a

private member to move. But last yeai MrjMassey took the clause, and put il into his ; Laud Bi 11. Member mem bei', said Mr Davey, introduced ihipor tant amendments, and they were not accepted because the Ministers loved to iake the initiative. He had endeavoured to introduce an amendment ts/ the State Fire Insurance Act. Tlje liiberal Party 'a

laws in respect to the Insurance Offiee were infinitely bettor than were those of the Reform Government. When private companies bit the people too hard it was time to nip their heads off.

DR THACKER. Dealing with borrowing, he said the truth had not been told, and would not be told while the party system lasted. It had been stated that in two years Mr Massey had borrowed £9,000,000, but in common fairness it should have been stated that of that sum £4,500,000 had been borrowed by Mr Myers. He explained his support of the Bill to give effect to Mr Hiley's scheme. Most of the money, he said, would go to the men for their labour. He had supported the reform of the Upper House as set out in Mr Massey's Bill, because he was pledged to support the elective Upper House. Two-thirds of the members of the Reform Party voted in favour of women sitting in the Upper House, but voted against them being allowed to sit-in the Lower: House....i . ...

Mr Davey said he did.not, believe it was the duty of the State to undertake the religious instruction of children, and if -selected lie would oppose the taking of a referendum on the question. ■.

When, he said, the Christchurch Liberal and Labour League decided the other day that Dr Thacker should be their jcandidate, the '' Lyttelton Times'' wrote an article on the subject.

An interjector at this point made some remark about Independents.

Mr Davey: It was not Independents that defeated Mr Mackenzie—-it was the spurious Liberals. It was-the men returned as Liberals who turned '' dog'' on the party. I have never broken my pledges yet, and never will. Dr Thacker, he said, did not know anything about politics. A Voice: What rotl

Another Voice: You turned Independent because you did not get a portfolio. Mr Davey (straining to hear): I really cannot hear what is being said. I, want to say that the speech delivered by Dr Thacker last night was hot polities at ail. (Hear, hear.) .He said he would show no.inevwy to his opponents. I do not want any mercy.

A Voice: You will get good medicine from the/doctor.

,' Mr.Davey: No matter what medicine T get from the doctor he will get a pretty fair dose from me. MASSEY, WARD, OR SEMPLE?

Mr Davey returned to / his criticism of the *' Lyttelton Times,' ' when he was interrupted. A Voice: What are you? Mr Davey: I am as strong a Liberal as ever I was in nvy life. A Voice: What do you want to be independeait; fori ■/.'J'"...-. . Another Voice: Are you standing for Massey? or Ward, or Semple? -Mr Davey: I am standing as- a straightrput Independent. If, he said, Dr Thacker were returned to Parliament they would.send an automaton there. Dr TKaeker had said at last flection was in favour of a referendum Bihle-iit-sebools. question, but this;'time^. K0 said he would ndt» r favour, it. A man could mat be pardoned ? "for changing on subject such as that. -

A-Voice: Why-were you not an Independent three (Laughter.) , Cries• of ' Massey! " '" followed. -:

Mr Davey: It is for the people to say what they will do with me. A Voice: I know what I* "\vi 11 do. Mr Davey: Jam very sorry .I cannot hear all these interjections.

Continuing, Mr Davey said that many men who had gpne to, Parliament pledged as the selling of Native lands. He had strongly.eppopedi;. tenants; f to purchase the%6bdwiil of'■•,''&. pia.ee srid sell it again. - The purpose of the Act was to put workers on the land, and not speculators. He commended the law passed by the Reform Government in reapect to the old-age pensions arid the widows' pensions. Any worker could now sue the Government at common la\sr if he met with an. The former restriction of '£soo, beyond which; the State servant could not; go, had been -removed. ' ;

The present Government could by no means escape their share;* of responsibility for the Huntly disaster. If the Hbrii'Mr'Fraser's' Bill'had been passed the accident wduld; probably not have occurred. The mining company also was to blame. The Government and the mine management were equally to blame in the matter. ~T

Referring to the alteration of the tram cars to the central aisle principle, Mr Davey said that-the system had proved very satisfactory. The enquiry into the administration of the Sunnyside Mental Hospital had resulted in good being done. LIVELY QUESTION ,TLME. „

When questions were asked for, a man promptly rose near the front of the hall. "Seeing/" he said, "that Mr Davey has gone in for tight-rope walking and is likely to fall some time" or other, is he likely to fall Ward or. fall Massey ?" ; .' \- Mr Davey: I can only z&y I will not give a pledge to any man in Parliament~l will give my pledge to you. I will vote as I think on the occasion. I want to see the goods. If L cannot be trusted, you know what to do with me at the ballot box.

A Voice: Yes. (Laughter.) A Questioner: How would you vote on a no-confidence motion?

Mr Davey: I will vote on the merits in the case. (Cries of "Aha!") If you do not like it, you know what to do.

A Voice: We know. Another Voice: You are stone ginger. (Laughter.) Mr Davey: I never have sat on the fence yet, and never will. I do not want to be a mere brick in a party wall. A voice: If Mr' Massey went back with a bare majority would you accept a portfolio? Mr-Davey: No. . ! - A voice: Where are you really placed as an Independent—Liberal, Labour, Tory, or what? We want to get it definite, you see. ' f ■; .: i ■{ Mr Davey: Some people are hard to satisfy. I have stated where I am. I will not give my word either to Massey or Ward. ' I will not give my woril to vote for Massey or Ward on a nOeojafidence vote. If you will not trust me the ballot box 4s your'remedy. In answer to another question, Mr Davey said he was opposed to the bare majority on the licensing issue. He favoured the 45-55 issue for Dominion prohibition, and the three-fifths for local option. Speaking of the strike, Mr Davey said neither side could look back on the matter with any degree of pride. Theie were acts of violence in ■ Wellington a,t that time that were quite unpardonable. The whole instigators and cause,of thait strike were the Union Steam Ship 'Company. Had the Union Company treated their workers fairly and squarely the strike would never have occurred. 'lf he got the opportunity he would vote in favour of the State running the ferrjf

service between Lyttelton and Wellington.

Mr Davey said he was not in favour of the country quota, and would do away with it if he could. The appointment of Eoyd Garlick, in the manner he was appointed, was absolutely wrong and indefensible. NO SUPPORT.

As Mr. Davey concluded, a man jumped up and moved:—"While this meeting thanks Mr Davey for his address it cannot see its way clear to support him at the coming elections after the explanation of his position to-night." This motion, which was greeted with applause, was promptly seconded. An amendment of thanks to the candidate found a seconder, but was defeated, and the motion was carried on a show of hands by a large majority. THE LYTTELTON SEAT. MR J, McCOMBS AT OPAWA. j There was a good attendance at the meeting held in the Opawa school last , evening by Mr J. McCombs, M.P., candidate for . Lyttelton. Mr G.. Scott .prej sided. I When the.wax broke out, Mr McCombs said, the Government, in common with the Governments of the other Australasian States, had brought in legislation to regulate the price of foodstuffs; but it went no further than bringing' it in. It had not been administered for the good of the country. The prices 9 f groceries of all kinds had gone u£, and had not been brought back to the prices ruling 011 August 1, as provided by the Statute. The action of the Massey Government in this direction compared very badly M T ith the actions of the Australian Governments—especially that of , New .South, Wales. In that State the flaw was such that;no ring of merchants could exploit the public. A merchant who anticipated a shortage of any comjmodity and laid in a stock, was entitled [■to a higher price, as a reward, for his (•foresight; but who' foresaw t)ae war? [The truth was that the New South, t Wales Government ? s action compared, 1 so favourably with that of Mr Massey ■because it was not intended to benefit [ anyf sdt' : of ' monopolists: The nrice of wheat and flour had "been fixedrby the r New-. Zealand Government at a con-: . sidex'abfy higher figure than in Australial When the war broke out, the [ price of wheat was 3/6 a bushel, and t ofifloin- £9 10/-/ or £lO a ton. On these prices, flourrnillers were making £1 6/10 or £1 16/10 per ton profit,. and they | were content with it, There was ample wheat on hand for all needs, and no 1 one had any right to make use of the i calamity to wring an. extra profit out I of ; the people., When the price of flour : fixed, it was fixed at £ll 15/-. per ton, and the additional profit being made by the millers amounted to £IOOO a day. What right had the millers to exploit : the public in a time of national distress 1 The Massey Government had the distinction of being the last Government in Australasia to fix the. price of flour, and thW it v fixed a higher price than any other State. In the 'matter of the fixing of the prices of foodstuffs the Dominion " had nothing" to "thank the Massey Goyernment for. All the legislation introduced , at the outbreak was was framed for the benefit of the monopolists and capitalists. One measure proposed to make it possible to suspend the provisions of the Arbitration Act. Had such aeticn been, taken, the wages of both organised and unorganised workers would have been considerably reduced, but for the action of the speaker and other Labour members, who persuaded the Prime Minister toi adopi ait amendment making it impog-; sib;e to reduce wages where a jninimum had been fixed. As the Leader of the Legislative Council had remarked when; he received; the from* the 'House^ the amendment "considerably affected the usefulness /of the Bill." Mr Bell had been quite correct. The Labour members had been able to spike the Government's guns, and no one had heard of the setting up of any commission to suspend the Arbitration Act. (Applause.) 1 ," Mr McCombs spoke at some length on the question of the canteen charges on : the troopships, and claimed that the Government's action i,n this- matter shewed 1 clearly that its sble anxiety was •to !benefit the "big man." Another j Government action which spoke loudly [was the posting of a notice in one of the State workshops in Dtmedin to. the ! effect that any young man desirous of i volunteering for active service must re- ! sign, and he might be re-employed at •the end of the war if he : was not incapacitated, > and there were vacancies; but there could be no guarantee of reemployment. Such action was a crying disgrace to any ; Government. (Applause.) He ventured to say that no Government in Australia had acted I similarly. Every Tory, Mr McCombs continued, spoke loudly of his desire to do his best for the masses of the workers, but his real attitude towards the workers w,as weU illustrated last, session. Three progressive labour measures were passed by the Lower House, buV they were all killed by 'the Legislative Council. One I of these was framed to bring the Ne\y i Zealand law into line with Imperial tyw, in; regard .to the, employment of ttades union funds for political purposes. The Imperial Act on which the Bill was founded had been passed • by both Houses after the Osborne judgment, and yet the New Zealand: Legislative Council wastoo Tory to pass a nieasure which had been adopted by the notoriously Tory House of Lords. With regard to ,th,e subject of proportional representation, Mr McCombs drjew the attention of , his audience j to the; fact that Mr Massey, while favourthe system for the election of the Upper House, would not consent to employ it for the election of the House of Representatives. Surely if the system were the best for one House, it was the best for both. The Government deserved eredit for making the Legis- ; lative Council elective, but the Bill which it brought in for this purpose was very defective and required a great dqal of amendment. The speaker himself had gone into thewhole matttjr, and had succeeded in •getting carried si:£ important amendments —which he clamed was a; remarkable j>erformaMe foil a private member. As a result pf hip efforts, what might; be called the ! *« period;?" .whfii-there woujd b«j :'botlK elected tmd nominated members of the' Council, had been reduced jfco yesirs, and six years hence the Council" w6uld 'be" wholly elected, arnd tlijere might be some hope at last 6f having a democratic Upper House. He was very pleased to see that the Liberal Party had adopted one of the most important .pjanks of the 1 Social-Democratic Party's platform, proportional representation. He. hoped that; the party would be; returned,, and that the system "be applied to ,'the election of the Houke of liepreeeijtatives. He thought 'he could congratulate himself on the fact tliiat after he had been one year in the Ilbuse a -reform in which he had been sa : greatly interested for; )many years had' been, considerably advanced. ( Applause.) 0 ■Dealing; with the Education Bill, Mr

McCombs expressed regret that the Government had not provided that a proficiency certificate should admit the holder to ree tuition at a technical school. Many a boy who could not proceed to a secondary school might do very well at a technical school. The scale of pay of the teachers was in great need of revision, especially so far as the w r ages of pupil teachers is concerned. The brightest boys and girls in the schools should be attracted to the teaching profession, but the wages paid were so low that the profession had no attraction. As an illustration he compared the wages paid to pupil teaeheYs and to cadets in the Hallway Department. Women teachers also suffered au injustice under the legislation now in force, which seemed to have been framed on the principle that a woman had no right to equal pay to that paid by men for exactly the same work.

Mr McCombs then w r ent on to deal with the question of the right of women to sit in Parliament. At present women were classed w r ith lunatics, criminals, and other undesirables. He had introduced a Bill to allow women to be elected to Parlia- 1 ment, but it never got a chance of discussion. When the Legislative Amendment Bill was before the House he moved an amendment to the same effect, and it was immediately accepted by the Minister in charge of the Bill (Hon. F. M. B. Fisher), He naturally thought that the amendment would be carried, and said no more about it, but what was Iris surprise wlien the Prime Minister spoke strongly against it, and the Minister who had accepted the amendment actually voted to kill it! Even then the amendment was defeated by only two Votes.

Mr McCombs strongly advocated the ; adoption of a referendum law. Under the i present system of Parliamentary representation, he said, it was impossible for | any man to be represented in Parliament by n member entirely in agreement with him. All he could do was to vote for the ; candidate who most nearly approached his .political ideals. There were questions, ; therefore, which cbuld not be settled except by the referendum, and until this system were introduced, we eoul<l not claim to be a free, self-governed people. I With regard to superannuation, Mr i McCombs said that he and his colleagues | had tried hard to get the Government to iftdopt the proposal' of Mr; Lloyd-George jwith regards to the employees of local authorities. This proposal was that when a man went from employer to employer his superannuation was kept up. In New Zealand, if a man were dismissed from a local body he lost his chance of superannuation. The Bill passed last session contained the germ of a great reform, and he hoped that. >f~ the Liberals were returned to power they would succeed in bring--ling the Bill lip-to-date and making it ; workable. (Applause.)

s[r McCombs then went on to deal with, the. Huntley disaster. The Government* he said, had been blamed for dilatoriness in the introduction of mining legislation. It was, of course, guilty of this delay, but he contended that' there had. already been in existence legislation which, if fairly and justly administered, would have been amply sufficient i,q /prevent the disaster which had cost 43 lives, and rendered 100 women and children destitute. The real cause of the-disaster was"; the " avowed policy of the Employers' Federation. He did not wish to Sny reflection on the the great body of employers in the Dominion, biit he f 'did that the policy of that group of employers form- i ing the Federation contributed towards' the disaster. The Federation was directly opposed to the workers, and had shown it time and time -again. The blame lay not so much with the Minister of Mines as wiih the Minister of Labour (Mr Massey), for if the Arbitration Act had'been properly administered*, there could have been &o 'victimisation of workers and check inspectors, who complained :of danger, and consequently no Huntly,, disaster., Mr Massey might have been, ignorant of the state of affairs at Huntly, but the country surely had a right to have at the head of its great State departments mepa who were not ignorant of the conditions regulated by those departments.. Ho had not the slightest hesitation inlaying the blame of the disaster at the door of the Government.

*" Mr'MeCombs put in a plea for the nationalisation of the.coastal.shipping servi««. Aiirt quoted figures to support, his contention that the. producers of the Dominion were being exploited by great shipping monopolies. He also advocated the establishment of a State Bank. The State Fire Insurance Department had been very successful, although it wa& established without capital. It operated,, not on a gold basis, but on the credit of the Dominion as a whole. If that were good enough security for the money-lords of London, it ought to be good enough security for a State note issue. The country was entitled to better banking.facilities than private companies would or could provide. The candidate also advocated a stiff increase in the graduated land tax; the remission of customs duty on many articles of common use/not manufactured in the Dominion, and the encouragement of industries by subsidy, and not by the imposition of duties on imported articles; and the electrification of the Lyttelton tunnel. .

Last session a Local Railways Bill was passed, which allowed the residents of. any district to, build a railway to connect with the main lines, and the necessary money was provided for' them at 3-$ per cent., with an additional i per cent, as a sinking fund. In : Christchurch people who wished to.have a, tram-line to their district—as in St. Martin's—they had to pay 9f . per cent, for the money. Now that the Governiment had endorsed the principle that money for such a purpose should cost 6xily 4 jjer' cent., the people of Christchurch Tiad ! a right to demand the repeal of the Christchurch Tramways Act of 1908, which had been . promulgated by . the Tramways Board in order to prevent —or at least discourage —extension of the system. : After the candidate had answered a number of questions, a vote of thanks, and confidence was carried. CONTEST FOR AVON. MR H. D. ACLAND. .The epntest for Avon ]be ;one pf the most interesting in Canterbury. Each of the three candidates is ; a strong representative, of his party,; and the one who comes out on top will have -to poll well. Last night the Government candidate, Mr H. D. Acland, addressed a meeting tin the Leyden Street Hall. Mr W r W. Tauner, a former member for Avon, occupied the chair. ~ - A PROGRESSIVE PARTY.

Mr Acland said that he was standing . aa a supporter of the present; Government, which he regarded as the most liberal and ; progressive Government the country, had ! had for many years. The record of jthe ! present : Administration would ' compare : more; than favourably with that of .any . previous! Administration.. The Govern-'; ment came into office during an industxial ; upheavar.caused by the Waihi strike, and ■ that they dealt with in a firm and able ! manner. It had had to deal with succes- \ sive times of stress caused by the pox outbreak, the waterside strike, and ■ the war. The present prosperity of the J

country was a tribute to the way in which the Government had met these crises. LAND SETTLEMENT.

The policy of the Government was settlement, more settlement, and still more settlement, and he heartily agreed with that. The system of closer settlement, and consequently greater production, had been eucouraged by the present Government. The Government had also tried to prevent aggregation, but he would go further than it had done, and make it illegal for a man to hold a Government section if he held any other land, except for residential purposes. LAND FOR WORKERS. The policy of the past had catered far too much for the man with money. , The man to be encouraged was the man who had saved a small sum of money, say £2OO or £3OO. The. man who had - £2OOO or £3OOO did not require the assistance of the Government to get on the land. He would like to see the system of providing land ,for workers carried Out near the cities, so that the workers could get employment in the city, and be able to work on his farm when he was without other employment. The worker would then become very largely independent of the state of, the'."labour market. PROGRESS OF SETTLEMENT.

The land settlement from-1893 to-1913 amounted to 1,366,578 acres, or 68,000 acres per annum. During the last two years of its office the Ward Government had settled 28,423—in 1911 it .settled 14,000 acres. In 1912 the Massey Government acquired for settlement purposes 193,110 acres, and last year it acquired 141,062 acres, or about 10 times as much land as the Ward Government for the last year it was in office. ... WORKERS' HOMES. The Government had also passed legislation to enable country and city councils to acquire land- for the purposes of .workers', homes. The housing problem was intimately connected with ihe cost of living, and if houses could be, erected cheaply rents could be brought down, and the cost of living reduced. The,-Workers' Dwellings Act was passed in.,1906-07, and during the time the Ward Government was in power it erected 209 dwellings. The Massey Government made, provision for and were erecting 345 homes, or working at three times the rate of the Ward Government. The Budget made provision for 205. homes, so that they were proceeding at a rate six times as great as that of the previous Government. , ON THE LAND. The Government had subdivided rural land for closer settlement amounting to 1,943,763 acres. 'The total number of sub-divisions was 6196, and there had been put on the land ■; 4897 settlers. This record compared more than favourably with the Tecord of any previous Government, and it showed that the Government's: land. poliey was a liberal and progressive one. ■ . < LABOUR LEGISLATION. The Government had liberalised the Workers' Compensation Act. He hoped that the Government would extend it to include compensation for all diseases peculiar to a trade. Part of- the coat .of production should be ths compensation of people who contracted illnesses, peculiar to a trade, jusi as much as though they had met with an accident. The Government had increased the wiages of railway servants' by £94,564 per annum. This was done tb «aeet

the increased cost of living. There had been other increases in various departments of the Government service, and for the first time the principle of the minimum wage in the Civil Service had been recognised. The Government had also passed legislation benefiting sawmill workers and hotel workers. The candidate dwelt at some length with the industrial and pension legislation of the Government. He said that he did not think that the income of an old age pensioner should be taken into consideration. If a pensioner was capable of earning a small sum, say 20/- or 25/- a week, that should not be taken into consideration in fixing his pension. (Applause.) FINANCE. The Government had been accused of having failed to reduce borrowing, but there had been a reduction of about £1,000,000 per. annum. The Government had been accused of having failed to reduce borrowing, but there had been a reduction of about £1,000,000 per annum. The Government's financial proposals had. been condemned in the . House by. the Opposition. Their loan proposals involved a sum of £12,000,000, but they did not propose-to borrow the whole of [that money in one year. The Govern? !ment proposed to borrow £3,250,000. in | connection with the Hilev railway t scheme, and to spend £334,000 in the first year. Sir Joseph Ward, in his policy speech, proposed to spend £500,000 per annum, or £2,500,000 in the same period in which the Government proposed to spend £3,000,000. When the Government proposed to borrow £3,000,000- for, Public Works, Sir Joseph Ward proposed exactly the same amount, which he had objected to in the Houses He (the speaker) supported the spend* ing of a liberal amount on Public Works during the. next year or two, and so tide over the bad times which might follow the war. The Government".also proposed to borrow £2,000,000 for war. loans (which Sir J. Gw Ward agreed with), and there were other statutory amounts which- brought the total to £12,065,000. Sir Joseph Ward's policy speech indicated an expenditure almost identical with that of the Government; His speeches in the House were made with' the purpose of making, out that the Government was going into vast extravagance.; Then in his policy speech he had to endorse the proposals.

'■■:[: '/.';,'.. .taxation. ./,'. The Government had been accused of 'increasing taxation, but as a matter of fact the increase came v frbm three special items-—death duties, income-tax, and graduated land tax. The death, duties amounted to £289,181, which alone accounted for an increase of 6/or 7/- per head, almost exactly the amount of the increase urged against the Government. Would the Opposition suggest reducing the income-tax, and death' duties, when the inerea.se had not been paid by the -ordinary members of the community. He predicted that there wquld.be a large increase in death duties this year. Four very! rich people had died during the last five or six months. There was one estate-—that of Mrs Townend —which was probably the ; estate which ever paid death 'duties in New Zealand. It was currently reported that, the amount of death duties would run into £200,000, which would raise the taxation in New, Zealand by 4/- per head.

NAVAL POLICY. Experience had proved, the candidate claimed, that Mr Allen's naval policy was absolutely the right policy. _ They must have auequale protection in the Pacific, and there was no doubt that Australia was the dominating influence at I;he present time. Sir Joseph Ward had talked about the British Fleet bottling np tne German fleet in the North Sea; but that was exactly what the' British Fleet had not done. The/ Emden,. Nurnberg, and other ships had been free, and some had met and defeated Admiral Cradoek's fleet. If it had not been for the Australian fleet the British Flag would not have been planted ai Samoa, and the troops could not have left Australia and New Zealand without adequate protection in the Pacific. Mr Acland referred to the "Punch" cartoon described in yesterday's cables. If it had not been for another cartoon might have appeared showing a fox with a goose in its mouth. The goose would have befciv New Zealand, with its shipping and trade, and the head of the goose might, have borne a remarkable likeness to'some. of the statesmen who had not advocated a proper system of protection; . <^(Laugh-, ter and applause.) - ; THE HUNTLY DISASTE^;;^ The Government was being moss unfairly blamed in connection thia unxortuMat*}'"affair. There jwas, .aitnple, ... provision «»• the Statute Boot' for 'dealing with the ease at the tinie, an.<l. the disaster was due to the law in existence not being properly carried out. THANKS AND" CONFIDENCE. At the conclusion of his address, the -' candidate answered a number of questions, and was- actiorded a Vote' of' - thanka and confidence, as against a vote of tLanks oxilyl . ' ' '• r'-MB'.D;" Mr D, 6. Social-Demijoratie candidate' for -Avon, addressed an opeinair meeting at the corner of Slater and •«• Guild Streets,; Richmond, last ! Mr W. Taylor actirig-as chairman.; ' What About Russell?" snaqtufred ; voice as ; the candidate' iOSe to speakv * ; ■ * I want to assure you," tiaid"Mr Su> livan, : ' that it is not-niy intention to^; ,; ' waste a : great 'deal' :of ~ time -upon- that- - gentleman. The speech he delivered:'at. Liriwodd School Was 6ne -ju^t'about- a&. •*. interesting as masses of-figures'ustially jare to the average Mail' iri ; tfttf street.-' had just aboutj&s much sojol it ! as v aii; • .Egyptian; inuxmny to be foiind -in arty \ " museum. "The * speech absolutely' br ..ia- ' '■ most entirely : ignored; ~&U: < takers * of vital concern to th 6 social w^lf&¥e'/of ' 1 the community. 'Mr thing to say in regard to. - the most important factor in the" iifeof the people of this countryJjo-day,, ' and he had no proposition totfKlke for' their control.

' * Those who have followed my campaign will recognise that I am going toconduct an absolutely clean fight, and will name my opponent' as little as possible. Up to the present I have carried out that determination, .and I ani quite satisfied that none of my opponents can say I have-not observed the rules 'o? fair play; "but I feel that in regard:'to. Mr G W. RusseH my attitude has not [been reciprocated as .touching iny pdsi"tion in connection with the Defence Act." " ' ' ' .[ Mr Sullivan here read the following

extract from Mr Russell's opening speech: — ''ln conclusion, Mr Russell said that he wanted to refer to one plank only in the policy of his Social-Democrat opponent, and that was the proposal to repeal the Defence Act and substitute a volunteer system. He would ask the people to consider whether it would be to the advantage of the country or of the Empire that such a step should be taken at a time when the British nation was fighting for its very existence in the greatest war of history. The official Prohibition Party had" put its imprimatur upon tho Social-Democratic candidate in the Avon electorate, and he was going to pin the No-license . people to the question, did they believe that the Defence Act ought to be repealed, at the present juncture in the history of the Dominion % " Mi-'Sullivan said it was his opponent's intention to. damago him- in tho eyes of the electors. The people he was representing were just as loyal and patriotic as any other section of the community. Mr Russell had been most unfair in his statements. A plank in the programme of the Social-Demo-cratic Party provided for the repeal of tha present Defence Act and the substitution of a volunteer system. Mr Russell had implied that the plauk was drafted solely for the present campaign, but he must have known that the policy of the Social-Democratic Party in regard to this question was drafted eighteen months ago. It'-Aval's reaffirmed some six months ago, before the rn-e-------sent Avar was ever dreamed of. Mr ' Russell evidently made the statement .that the Social-Deuiocrats were prepared to repeat the Act at the present time. There were twelve Hocial-Demociat candidates, and if every one of them was elected and they were silly enough to try and tamper, with, the Defence Act during the present crisis they couldn't do it. ilia party had no desire that the Defence Act snould be dealt; with until the--present trouble was' over. The Social-Democrats, were as loyal as anyonq .else, and cohesion AA r as needed to bring the struggle to a satisfactory con-o-usionj Mr Russell was taking an unfair advantage of his Social-Democratic opponent, and he was quite sure the jtepple of the constituency would resent his ■ action: .- The Liberal Party- 'had v been most; indignant in regard to the) Government trying to exploit its action ' in regard,to the present crisis,-b.ut here Mr/Russell Was folloAving on similar ; lines. . 7'£ Who., is this particular gentleman :;'attempting-.-to create this unfair pre : judiee against my candidature?" Mr Sullivan continuod. "Has'ho" been so consistent in connection with the present Defence Act? - We haye'it on his own. confession that he never believed .'. in the Defence Act, but ho voted for it in .the House. I have in my pocket, a letier writton by Mr Russell to one of his;constituents.; - It contains this para- •', graph:-r- " , ' ' ' "-\ , '■ "My objection to the compulsory military training question is that it is unnecessary and impracticable. I. have neVer been in fWour of, it, but with this fever in' Parliament and in the country'it is useless to try and stop it.". "This was AA'ritten on J October 6, 1911, to a gentleman in PhiHpstowh. r A Voice: Ricketty! Another Voice: Go on, get on- with. your job. Mr Sullivan: Mr Russell was concorning himself AA r ith-me and I am-going to deal. with. him. That gentleman is strongly of, the opinion that the DeffenceV Act is Unnecessary and impracticable and undesirable, and yet, because his opponents and a large number Of people in the country desire, it, and because he would be with a hope; less. minority in the House if he opposed it, he sacrificed his own convictions to win popularity. A man Avlio is prepared to do that sort of thing is not the kind of gentleman to be entrusted with the interests of any constituency in New Zealand. That man ought to be the last, to try and win support iV from the public ■ bsr banging the patriotic- drum and claiming credit for the Defence Act. " •Mr Sullivan concluded his reply to - Mr Russell by saying* that that gentleman went into poAver in support of the leasehold. Now he was a supporter of freehold. In a presessional address af; Philipstown he was opposed to proportional representation, while iioav he favoured it. Before Mr Russell tried to prejudice the speaker's candidature he should look to his own attitude and endeavour to be more consistent on public questions. _Mr Sullivan continued his address on the lines he had previously proceeded on, and at the conclusion was unanimously accorded ja vote of thanks and confidence.

MR G. W. RUSSELL. \ There was a large attendance at Mr G. W. Russell's meeting at the Phillipstown School last evening. A motion of thanks and confidence was carried On the motion of Mr W. 0. Hiwvey.