THE GENERAL ELECTION.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16612, 11 December 1919, Page 3

THE GENERAL ELECTION.

TARANAKI SEAT. MR. BUOKERIDGE AT FITZROY. Mr. Geo. H. Buokeridge, Reform candidate for the Taranaki seat, addressed a meeting of electors at Fitzroy on Wedeusday evening, !SXr. E. Griffiths presiding over a largo attendance. There were a number of interjections during the earlier part of the meeting, but Mr. Buokeridge invariably scored over those responsible and was afterwards given an attentive hearing. The chairman briefly introduced the speaker, who was well received on rising to address the meeting. Mr: Buckeridgo at the . outset explained his reasons for entering the contest, again intimating that it was not with the object of fighting Mr. Smith but because ho disagreed with what Mr. Smith stood for in politics. Mr. Buokeridge replied to several statements which he said had been made by Mr. Smith concerning himself. In the first place it was not correct to say ho was a stranger to Taranaki, nor was it right to suggest that lie was opposed to the harbour because his home happened to be in South Taranaki, For ten years he had been saying in connection with tbo Farmers’ Co-operation organisation that the headquarters hf the concern would eventually bo in New Plymouth. He realised there was only one pos> siblo chance to get a deep-water harbour for Taranaki, and that was at Now Plymouth, and because he realised that a big concern such as the Farmers’ Co-op. must have its warehouses close alongside the port, where its imports were landed so that those goods coukl bo handled at -a minimum of cost. Further, ho had offered to go around the district with Mr. Wilkinson and others who were advocating the harbour scheme some months ago, but it so happened that just at this time ho was busily engaged in organising the Farmers’ Union throughout tko district, and therefore could not take the active part in the campaign in the interests of the harbour ho would have liked to do. They would all agree that Mr. Wilkinson had been one of the strongest advocates of the harbour, and yet he, too, resided in South Taranaki There were many others in South Taranaki who held similar views to Mr. Wilkinson and he was among them. (Applause.) One other statement he wished to refer to. It had been suggested that being a stranger he had no right to contest .the seat. In the first place as ho had already said ho was not a stranger, and in the second place even if ho had been a stranger this was a free country and be had a perfect right to stand for this or any other seat, and what was more he claimed that right.

Proceeding, Mr. Buckeridgo compared tho leaders of tho two responsible parties in politics in tho Dominion, Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph IVaid, Bart. In Mr. Massey they had a statesman, a man who was eminently qualified to gnido this Dominion. On the oilier hand they had Sir Joseph Ward, Bart., tho greatest political peacock tho country had produced, who was not content in tho topknot, but had to have tho tail as well. Sort! And, ho asked, do you know how he got it? Ho had nothing to sav about the giving of tho battleship, but ho did say that the manner in which it was given was all wrong. When tho Liberal leader proposed to give that battleship ho should have taken Parliament into his confidence and not have made tho gift himself and taken all the kudos. "Having contrasted tho two loaders Mr. Buckeridgo went on to condemn tho Liberal policy ns recently issued by Sir Joseph Ward, and said it was full of promises which he knew full well and which every thinking man sand woman know could never bo given efToct to, nncl so it had been for years with this self-same party. Promises which had been made for 21 years by tho Liberal Party still remained unfulfilled, and this was the kind of thing that had brought the Liberal Party into the position it was in to-day, discredited by tho country. _ Promises were made by the party which it knew there was no hopo of carrying out. Continuing, Mr. Buckeridgo said he had made it quite clear during Ins campaign as to just where ho„ stood. He was out in the interests of the Reform Party, blit ho did not know just where Mr. Smith stood, in fact, lie questioned whether Mr. Smith knew himself. At any rate he had said he would vote against Mr. Massey, and that he would not vote for Sir Joseph Ward. Who chon would ho vote for? There was onlv one other party, am’ that was tho Labour Party, what, he asked was this party leading, the country to? People with capital would no’t put it into undertakings where they Lad to employ men, and this, ho contended, was not a good thing for tho men or for tho country. Labour was quite all right, and he quite agreed that tho worker should try to sell his labour in tho best market possible, but the lead had been altogether wrong. Ho had been of this opinion for a long time, and for four years had urged tho Farmers Union to help, him to got right amongst Labour and try to counteract this wrong lead which was leading tho country to ruin. Tho Farmers’ Union, ho believed, was going to enter into his proposal and he further believed that much good would result from it. The excessive cost of articles to-day was largely attributable to tho wrong lead Labour had got. If there were workers present, and he believed there were, ho hoped they would, if the opportunity came, meet the farmers and discuss these differences and see if they could not arrive at a solution. If not there were three courses open to them; there was the conciliatory method, there was the court which was never satisfactory, and tliore was one other way_, and that was to fight. Let us, he said, try the conciliatory way and meet together, discuss these differences and tsy fairly and squarely to overcome them. (Applause.)

THE HIGH COMMISSIONER’S OFFICE. Proceeding, Mr. Buckeridge referred to a statement made by Mr. Smith in respect to the High Commissioner’s office in London under the Massey Government—a statement ho believed made quite in error by Mr. Smith. Mr, Smith had never been to London, but the speaker was able to speak of the High Commissioner's office from his own personal experience. He could refer to what had been done in respect to the High Commissioner’s office under the Liberal administration. In 1898 when in London ho had an awful job to find it. The only thing there was to guide one was a small brass plate on the wall at the entrance of a building in an out-of-the-way street in Westminster. Ten years afterwards when he was again in Lon-

don lie found the High Commissioner’s office in the same place, and it was just as difficult to find In 1911 it was still in the same place with' no attempt to advertise New’ Zealand or the Dominion’s products as was done, for instance, hy Australia. This was the High Commissioner’s office under Liberal administration. In 1914 he was again in England. and_ this time he found the High Commissioner and his staff housed m a fine big building in Aldwych (no longer relegated to the back streets of London! with fine exhibits of what New Zealand was producing, and around it were many people congregated day after day inspecting that produce. A PRACTICAL POLICY. Mr. Buckeridge continuing,_ stressed the need for greater production, and in this connection advocated a scheme of immigration and the establishment of co-operative banks with tlje object of assisting the rigJTt typo of man to settle on the land. He also stressed the need for cheap supplies of manures and eulogised the work of Mr. Massey in securing for New Zealand a share of the phosphates of Nauru Island. Mr. Massey was alive to the needs of the farming community, and to him all credit was due in connection with the interests New Zealand had secured in Nauru.

Mr. Buckeridge dealt with other questions including military training, and said ho was strongly opposed to sending boys to camp tor four months every year. In regard to education he spoke "bn similar lines to 'his Oakura address "and advocated the payment of much better salaries to teachers. At the close of his address Mr. Buckeridge was asked and satisfactorily answered numerous questions. In reply to one question Mr. Buckeridge said ho was a prohibitionist, first on personal grounds, second on moral grounds, and lastly on the grounds of national efficiency. A written question was pul in as to the candidates attitude towards the Proteistant Political Association and the Rev. Howard Elliott. Mr. Buckeridge said if the writer of the question would come forward and reveal his or her identity he would reply to the question. There was no response, however, to the invitation, and Mr, Buckeridge therefore declined an answer.

On the motion of Mr. Jas. Burgess, seconded by Mr. C. Hoskin, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded the speaker for his address, and an expression of confidence in him as the district’s representative. A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the meeting.

MR. SMITH’S MEETINGS. Mr. S. G. Smith addressed a meeting of electors at the Waitara Road factory on Wednesday morning, and received a most attentive hearing. In reply to a question he said ho strongly protested against, the statement that had been made that he had not replied to the communications from the Farmers’ Union, both in reference to the Opunake railway and tho series of questions submitted by the union. In. support of his statement Mr. Smith produced his file containing copies of his replies. The candidate answered a number of questions satisfactorily, and at the conclusion was accorded a hearty vote of thanks. Mr. Smith addressed a meeting of 20 electors at Hillsborough on Wednesday night. Mr. F. Stanley being voted to the chair. In reply to a question, he said he favoured the South African veterans being brought under the privileges of the Discharged Soldiers’ Settlement Act and tlie Pensions Act. The candidate was accorded a hearty vote of thanks, on the motion of Air. H. 0. Sampson, seconded by Air. L. Withers. Air. S. G. Smith lias forwarded to us a copy of a letter to- the secretary or the Taranaki branch of tho Farmers’ Union, c(atod November 28 last, in which he gives affirmative answers to all the questions submitted to Parliamentary candidates by the union. In connection with protecting the primary and secondary industries from tho operation of trusts, Mr. Smith added to his reply that he was not hopeful of any tangible results until we bad a new and stable Government, composed of now and more progressive men than at present, and who will place the best interests of the country before that of the, mere party political machine. Air. Smith addressed the electors at Korito factory this morning -and delivered a speech in which he stressed the absolute need for replacing the present pßlirical stagnation' uy the adoption of a more progressive and democratic attitude towards the Requirements of the people generally. Mr. Smith speaks at Egraont Village to-night.

STRATFORD SEAT.

HON. J. B. BINE’S AIEETINGS.

ADVANCES TO SETTLERS

Major Hine addressed a representative audience at Te Popo on Tuesday afternoon, receiving an attentive hearing throughout his address. Mr. Knox jnr., occupied the chair. The*usual political questions of the day were dealt with. In reply to a. question asked by Mr. Aldridge relative to the position of the State Advances Office at tlie time of Sir Joseph Ward’s retirement from the Premiership in 1912 following the result of the elections, Mr. Hino made tho following statement; —“It is a fact that Sir Joseph Ward committed the Dominion to advance to the settlers £2,191,300 that year, but the explanation of the why and wherefore has been carefully withheld. The truth is that Sir Joseph Ward made such an effort to retain office, that discretion and ordinary business principles were thrown to tho wind, and he entered upon a policy of sweetening the electorates throughout the country by lending an enormous amount both to settlors and local authorities far in excess of ordinary years, with the result that the Massey Government found the flmthces so overspent or promised up to two years ahead, that it was extremely difficult to find money to redeem Sir Joseph Ward’s commitments and at the same time to continue to accept fresh proposals £1,500,000 per annum was the amount originally borrowed for advances to settlers and on no occasion prior to 1912 had the advances reached that limit, so that in advancing £2,191,300 in 1912 Sir Joseph had forestalled the next year’s operations by £691,300 and in addition to this amount Sir Joseph had also committed the, country to find £820,000 for local bodies. The whole question of advances under the State Advances Office was a matter of inquiry by Parliament at that time, and profligacy of expenditure and a careless indifference of consequences was one of the features revealed to the committee by the evidence submitted at the inquiry made by the Public Accounts Committee, of which 1 had the honour of being chairman.”

At the conclusion of the address a hearty vote of thanks to the speaker for his interesting and instructive address was moved by Mr Aldridge and carried. Major Hine addressed one of the best

political meetings held in the district at Durham Road on Tuesday evening. Mr. Simpson occupied the chair, and throughout the audience took a keen and enthusiastic interest in the address. At the conclusion votes of thanks and confidence were accorded the speaker hy Mr. Officer and carried with acclamation, only one dissentient voice being heard. ME. MASTERS’ CAMPAIGN. The Liberal and Labour candidate addressed an attentive audience of over 20 electors at Makahu on Tuesday afternoon. Mr, Masters’ thorough grasp of matters dealt with was received with marked appreciation, culminating in a vote of thanks and confidence ip him ns the mogt suitable representative for the district, moved by Mir. M. Ford, seconded by, Mr. Mann, and carried unanimously. . Strathmore turned,out in goodly numbers to hear the liberal and Labour candidate on the political questions of the day. Mr. Masters was in good) form and the 70 electors present accorded him an enthusiastic hearing, the speech , being punctuated with outbursts of applause. At the conclusion of the meeting Mr. G. Lamplough moved and Mr. H. B. Kidd seconded a vote of, thanks and confidence, which was carried unanimously, amidst cheers, called by the chairman, Mr. J. Dromgool. THE WAITOMO SEAT. %' MR. C. K. .WILSON’S CAMPAIGN. Mr. 0. K. Wilson, the Independent Reform condidate, has just completed a* tour of the Ohura county aha has met with " unqualified ■ success all through the Mr. Wilson is contesting the Waitomo electorate against the sitting member, Mr. W. T. Jennings. Both gentlemen have visited the district and placed their views ' befbre the electors, and both claim to have an advanced policy. Which of the two has made the best impression will be shown on Tue_ 17th inst. when the final judgment is recorded at the ballot-box. At Haliers, Otangiwai, Nibo Niho, Ohura, Tatu and Tokirima Mr. Wilson had splendid gatherings, and in each place the audience paid marked attention to him while he dealt mainly with farming interests, particularly the menace of the Meat Trust, and how to combat it. Another strong feature was Mr. Wilson’s denunciation of the Political Labour leaders. He showed how the vast majority of Labour men had proved loyal during the war, yet a few who impudently claimed to he Labour leaders wanted to upset all law and order in the shape or Government and run ' the country at their own sweet will. God 1 help the country, says Mr. Wilson, if such men as Holland . and Semple get control. Wf ah with strikes and go-slow policy together with hair-brained proposals for financ- , ing the country, New Zealand would soon “come a cropper.” And God help the country if the Liberal and Labour combination get hold of the reins, as that would still mean that extreme Labour would command the ‘ situation.

AIR. MASSEY AT GREY LYNN. - HAS SPLENDID RECEPTION, A CAPABLE WOMAN CANDIDATE. Per Press Association. AUCKLAND, Deo. 10. , The Prime Alinister delivered a political address in Grey Lynn to-night in support of Miss Ellen Melville, Govern- • meat candidate for the seat. The hall was crowded.to the doors, and Mr. Alassey received an ovation on arrival. Aliss Aleiville spoke first, and towards the close of her address there were some interruptions. When Air. Alassoy rose to speak, however, all interruption ceased, and his address was listened to with marked attention, with few interjections. Air. Massey said he congratulated Aliss Aleiville on her speech, which from a practical and progressive point of view was the best he had -heard during the campaign. He proceeded on tho lines of recent speeches, dealing with the cost of living, and comparing Now Zealand’s position with that of other countries, and outlining legislation passed last session. He condemned the extreme Labo.ur Party and said tho Parliamentary Labour Party did not represent Labour. He challenged Sir Joseph Ward, Air. Alyers, or «ny other Liberal with the exception of Air, Isitt to say they would not accept extrema Labour’s help to hold office. He believed thb arrangements made/hy the Government with the Colonial Sugar Company had saved the Dominion £3OO, 000 or £400,000 a year. (Applause.) He hoped" the Government would be able to continue the arrangement for another term. A vote of thanks and confidence, oar- -■ ried by an overwhelming majority, closed a highly successful meeting. ,j * THE AIARIST BROTHERS. , j Per Press Association. j INVERCARGILL, Deo. 11. i i Speaking at Waikiwi, the Eev. How- - I ard Elliott, referred to the question of ; the exemption of the Alarist Brothers i from war service, saying that they had i been granted a privilege denied them ; in Italy and France. “Was it not Sir ; Joseph Ward,” he said, “who moved specially to get them that protection, -i and was it not Sir Joseph Ward who ] had been reminded by the church to do so.” In this respect Sir Joseph Ward i had led the House and the Catholics had ■ sufficient power in the House to obtain i the protection of priests and brothers. ' |