THE PRIME MINISTER

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 268, 4 April 1913, Page 4

THE PRIME MINISTER

TOl'lllXU TAUAXAKI. ; A VISIT TO STRATFORD, • The Prime .Minister (the lion. W. !«', Massey) and the .Minister of I'nblia Works (Hon. \V. Eraser) arrived ill Stratford shortly before live o'clock on Wednesday evening, and were met by a representative gathering of the citizens and settlers of the district. An immediate retirement was made to the Municipal {.'hamhers, where they were welcomed by Mr, •). I!. 1 line, M,l\ for Stratford, on'behalf of the constituency; the Mayor, Mr. \Y. P. Ivirkwood; the secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, Mr..). B. Richards; the chairman .of the Stratford {.'utility Council, Mr. V\\ Hathaway; and the chairman of the Wliangamomonu County Council. Mr. A. Meredith. Till*! BAXQUET.

There was a representative gathering of about a hundred citizens at the banquet given to the Hon. W, F. Massi I I'rime Minister) and Mr. W. Fraser (Minister for Public Works) on Wednesday night, at the Town Hall, Stratford. Tlic Mayor (Mr. W. P. Kirkwood) presided, and among those present were: Messrs Okev, lline, Pcarec and Wilkinson. M.P.'s.' Apologies for absence were received from the Hons. O. Samuel and T. Kelly, M.LC.'s. and Messrs Xewton Kins.', T. 11. Anderson and W. Budge. The company sat down to a substantial banquet, after which Dr. Paget moved the toast of "The Parliament of X'ew Zealand." Parliament, as at present constituted, lie said, consisted of men of solid worth. The Parliament of the Dominion, iir fact, could 'compare favorably with any Parliament in the world for civility, intelligence and earnestness. The time had come when Parliament should not sit simply for three years, but should sit for whatever period it was worth, and in the present case that was much longer than three years. He advocated the institution of quinquennial genera! elections. The toast was coupled with the names of visiting members of Parliament.

Mr. .T. T!. Iline was the first to respond, lie said that the present Government was doing its best for the country. Tt had come into olliee at nn unfortunate period, and one of it* first tasks had been, as business men, to look over their ledger and sec how their accounts stood. It was a bitter pill for the backbloeka settlers to find that there was not money enough available for all the works that were required, but the Government's first consideration was to establish a sound finance.

Mr. Okev. replying, said that if there wore ever a man cut out to lead the Parliament of New Zealand it was the present, Prime Minister. The country little realised what he had had to go through before he had won to his present position, hut Mr. Massev had stuck to his guns, even when defeat seemed imminent and against desperate odds, and he had fairly and squarely won his way to his present high position. ITe thought it was a mistake for any party to lie in power for twenty venrs. The Government had assumed office at a bad time. The cheap money scheme of the previous administration had driven private capital out of the country, and the local bodies, which must have funds for public works, were compelled to borrow at sor 5% per cent, as a result. Had it not been for the increase in the Dominion revenue the country would have been "in the soup," and it whs onlv tlu* increase of revenue that had kept it out of it. 1 Thev would never haw had roads to (Itpir backbloeks If if had not been for the passage of the Loans to ■Land Boards Act.

Mr. 0. V. Pearce said that the prosperity of the country depended upon the continual increase of its productiveness. Increased exports meant increased prosperity, and it wis the intention of the finvernment to foster the export trade with this in view.

Mr. Wilkinson s:iid thiH 1m hed been described as "tlt '* bMi" (\f flip JTso.** and he was proud of the title. He advocated strongly the closer settlement of the land. The Ministr v must srive precedence to a policy that would settle the whole of Xew Zealand in the same maimer as Taranaki was settled. Tf they did this the whole country would soon he in a flourishing condition. He deprecated a policy of borrowing money on foreign markets, and said that the country should aim at becoming more self-reliant. Referring to the matter of railway construction, he said that every district had its claims, but the most necessary lines should be completed first. Whatever local claims there might be it was imperative that the Stratford-Te Koura line should be completed at once, even if others had to stand aside. New Plymouth was destined to become thechief port of the province—even though his friend Mr. Pearce disagreed with him and they should devote their energies to seeing that their produce was loatfed 011 the best boats at New Plymouth an<t shipped direct Home. Anything that they could possibly do in this directionshould be undertaken with the utmost energy and enthusiasm.

Mr. J. B. Richards proposed ''The Dairying and Farming Industry." The farming industry provided the bulk of' our exports. Those engaged in the industry were worthy of all encouragement and consideration, and at present there was due regard of that bv the Government. The more the industry was encouraged, and the more men put on the land, so much better would be the character of the nation, for the rural population was better than population differently situated. The rural population as a rule was self-dependent and self-re-liant. a tower of strength to a nation whether in times of peace or war. Hepaid a tribute to the pioneer settlers, who took their lives in their hands, and* stepped out into the dark. Thev were men and women to be proud of: they were heroes and heroines. In the development of this province the country settlers had assumed rating and otherburdens. Mr. Richards then read off a tabulated statement of the exports of the province, showing a healthy increase. But the butter-fat production was not increasing as it should do, although the maximum production had not yet been reached. Production could be increased by improved labor conditions.

Mr. 15. Dingle, replying, quickly passed over the dairying industry, and wont on to compare the present flovernment with ''Old Mother Hubbard" who went to the cupboard and found it bare. That seemed to be their answer to deputations asking for money, however willing they might be. The speaker bore out Mr. Richard's remarks regarding labor, and said the dairying industry would be better if there were more employees available to "lieln to milk the cow." Mr. W, X. Stephenon, of Tariki, expressed his pleasure at the statement made during the afternoon by the Premier that more people were being attracted to the. Dominion, The prosperit\- of Taranuki was due in a large measure to the small dairy farmers, and tliey were loval to the 'Reform Party. Mr. \V. ('■ Malone proposed "The Local Bodies." He considered local bodiesof even greater importance than Parliament itself, because of the waste of time in party warfare in . the House. Therewas no party in local government. Local' (Continued on page 8)'. | j