THE TEMUKA SEAT.

Timaru Herald, Volume CI, Issue 15506, 17 November 1914, Page 9

THE TEMUKA SEAT.

MR C. E. KERR 'AT THE DOMINION THEATRE. A VERY HEARTY RECEPTION VOTE OF THANKS AND CONFIDENCE. Last night Mr C. E. Kfrr, Reform candidate for the Temuka seat, addressed a big meeting in the Dominion Theatre at Temuka, when he was given a very hearty reception. Mr A. Frew, Deputy-Mayor, presided, and several ladies occupied seats on the stage—Mrs Martin, Mrs Bates, Mrs James, Mrs Tarrant. Mrs Shaw, and Mrs Chapman. Dr Rugg, Messrs T- Gunion, T- Trezise, 0. O. Matthews, A. Shaw., and C. Bates also on the platform. : On rising to address the. meeting the candidate was, greeted with enthusiastic applause, and his speech was liberally punctuated in the same way. J: Mr Kerr commenced by thanking the audience for the compliment paid in giving him such a cordial reception; and he proceeded to explain briefly why he was standing for the Temuka Seat j- and the series of happenings which had led-up to his decision—the death of the late Colonel Hayhurst and the subsequent indisposition of his son, Mr

H. H- Hayhurst, who had intended to Btand in place of liis father. He (the ! speaker) had then been asked to come forward and as a matter, of duty and because he hajl always taken - a keen interest in politics (always on the side of the Reform Party) he had complied tvith the request* With regard to his -opponent he could tell them that MrC. J. 'Talbot was a. personal friend of " lis, and the contest' would be fought out on the .most friendly terms. (Applause.) . .. ..... ' The Opposition hate been continuously stating the Reform Party's plnLft -ni is not to be turned int< ley.slative Acts, when as a matter of fact, a great many of the reforms, promised are to be found on the statute bocks. would have beens carried V cat .m its entirety but for unforeseen causes, the strike, smallpox scare and War. '.Given another tferm of office, fevery single promse made by the' Government Tvill have been fulfilled. The Government "took office during the first session of the. present Parliament, in the second yeAr there was the strike, and this year xihe wax, and during all there was the direct or indirect , obstruction tactics;v'of the Opposition. I will give you as clearly as I can, aTf~ short and necessarily " incomplete -idea of the work the Reform party has accomplished during its short two and a half years in office, and I hope that at the. conclusion you will agree with me that work nobly conce'ved and faithfully carried out is the pledge 6f future progress, and deserves a. Continuance of further conwhich as far as. the electorate is will be best shown by re- - the head of ,tie poll in ' V- , FINANCE.

7 One of the most important serviced which the present Government has rendered to the country has been the way jh which it has strengthened the Dominion's finances, which were by no means in a strong position when it tcok office. The position of the Consolidated Fund was,not so bad 1 , though it suffered considerably during the period of the Stop Gap Mackenzie Ministry, immedi-/ ately before the present Government came into office. On March 31st, 1912, there was a balance to this fund or £807,000 nearly all represented by cash. "When Mr Massey became Premier on July 10th file balance' . had fallen to £782,500, of which only £IBB,OOO was represented by cash, and'there were liabilities of £510 3 000 against the balance. The cash available had gone down from £770,000 to £138,000, which was not surprising considering how the stopgap Ministry spent money in its desire to make popular with all classes, send be retained in office. The result, however, was very inconvenient for the Reform Government when it took up the reins. No money had been transferred at to'the Public Works Fund. ■ It was the shocking condition of this fund which made most trouble for Mr Massey's Ministry. Wlien Sir Joseph Ward left office there was a balance to this fund of £82,500 —enough for. two weeks' needs—with loan moneys of over a million to be received, which were more than set off by liabilities. - That was bad enough, but when the Reform Government took up office three: months later it was much worse. On June 30th. 1912. ten days before Mr Allen became Minister of Finance, the position of the fund was as follows: -—There was a total balance to the fund of £299,100, while the loan money to

be received was £477,000. Of tliis bswtmce only £78,500 was cash, the rest consisting of advances, some of which had been expended, the total amount available for the Public "Works Fund, including advances £777,000, and the liabilities against this sum were £l,649,000—m0re than twice as much—and there were ten days more expenditure to add before the Massey Government assumed office. Not only bad the present Government nothing available for new works but it had liabilities to meet of something- like £870,000. The Government had enough money to carry on public works forthree months only, and the financial year had nine months to run.' There was no money in the Consolidated Fund which could be transferred to the Public Works Fund, and the only thing, the Government could do was to raise a loan quickly, whether the Aitorkeb should be good or bad/ or look forward to an early stoppage of public works. - Fortunately Mr Allen, who the Opposition used to say would never be so successful as Sir Joseph Ward in his applications to the London money markets, contrived to raise his loan on esce'lent terms. For years previously the Liberals had been in the habit of raising loans for very short pieriods, a hand to mouth method of borrowing, which meant that large loans were always liable to come due, and require to be renewed, at the most inconvenient time. One of Sir Joseph Ward's loans has come duo now—'a, nice time for raising money. And of course there were expenses/ for renewals. Directly after the elections Sir Joseph Ward refused to go on with negotiations for a loan because he thought the Reform Government were coming into office,' and this although the loan was badly needed and the High Commissioner /had advised him that the time was favourable. The result of his holding Pff _ that when the stop gap Ministry and not the Reformers succeeded him m office, Mr Myors had to raise one of the Liberals' short dated loans when the market was most unfavourable. It was raised on worse terms than had been paid for any loan for a long time. That was not. Mr Myers s fanlt. Sit* Ward should have raised the loan when the trip,rketwas favourable, and when he had arranged to do so, by the advice of the High' Commissioner. Fortunately, MiAilen was able to raise this loan for public .Works on exceptionally favourterms., For. a short time, while it continued doubtful if' tho money? couldbe raised, the Hon I'Mser refused ' to begin new works,,'and immediatelv a:' a cry was raised by the Opposition that the country's development was being starved .. by tho Government. The Ministers, however, did not have 'to"' mark time long for want of v money, . For in the first two yerrs of tho Reform: Government's administration • the amount spent on public works was larger than at any previous time, and this year a still larger .sum is being spent. _ It speaks well for the financial administration of the Government that when the present war broke out, and the country was faced with the possibility, of.no loans beiiur obta.inab'o for a lonff time to com©,:the Public Works Fund was in such a sound state that the Minister was aible to continue works for the development of the country at the, normal rate as if no war wag in progress.,

The improvement wrought by t&e Reform Party is seen at once if we compare the position' of the fund at the time when they came into power with its position:on March. 31st, 11914, the end of, last financial year; Ten days before the Reform Government cpsumed office the liabilities of the Fund, as.; we have seen, were and the available funds were only ,£j,f.7,000.. On Mart-h 31st, 1914.1 the to credit, together with loan money to be ieceived was £1.400.000, leavins an avnjlr.ble balance of : some £400:000 after meeting every liability. I should like to ask what state the country: would have, .been in to face''the 'tirosnwtsi of the present, war, if the PtiWic Works Fund and otb«r funds at the com of it had b in -+he ; condition thev were in before the Reform Government came into Wh»a a tenwornrv dor>ressir>n strrb'-nrr i*! Axner ; ci <-tmck New Zea T and in jf9AR' iS~ .Tnffo.-oh-- Ward could onlv meet itbv dismissing over nine hundred members, of the Civil ''Service. Special settle-; merits -were formed for them in the North Island, so _that men who had spent all their lives quill-driving i in city offices might spo what they could do in breaking in the land—and Very rough land some*- of them were called to break in. There lias been no retrenchment of that kind under the; Reform Government. . It used to be said that it would be a bad time for the Dominion when Mr Allen had to raise its loans. Yet the loans of the Reform Government have been raised on much more favourable terms than the later loans of its pre- ■ decessors. Moreover, while the tendency in the later years of the' Liberal Administration was for tli'e terms to become worse and worse, under the Reform Government loans have been raised on ste-ndily improving terms.i.ln April 1910 S : r Josenh Ward raised a five yeiar loan of wh'ch the net cost: to the country was £4 os Id . per cent. The cost of his next loan was £4 lis; 3d per cent. Then followed Mr Myers's two-years-loan, and that cost £5 is'id per cent. That shows a steady tendency towards greater dearness, which

turned the other way as soon as the Reform Government assumed office. Their first loan, raised at a very awkward tame, cost £4 5s 4d per cent. —less than Sir Joseph Ward's last loan, their next loan cost £4 3s -3d and tfheir last loan cost only £4 Is 3d. Can it be doubted that the improved terms on which these loans of the Reform Government haive been raised have been due in a large degree to the improved state in which they took ;care to place t)he country's finances as . soon as they took office, and the increased confidence in our methods of finance, which oversea investors had good cause to feel? Moneys received _£rom the sale of Grown Lands aire no longer paid into the Consolidated Revenues to make inflated surpluses which will not bear examination, but are paid into,a separate account, reserved for the purchase of more lands for settlement, and in other ways our finances have been made firmer and more intelligible. Since the war began the Government has had to restrict advances, hut it is doing its utmost to supply money to workers and settlers. The grant to settlers was increased from £SOO to £750, and advances to workers has also been increased. When the Ward Government took office on March 31st, 1912, the funds available in the Advances Department only amounted to £684,000 while commitments had been made to the amount of £1,538,000, more than twice the amount. On March 31st of this year the funds of the. Department totalled £1,624,000, arid the commitments of liabilities were £565,271. Instead of a deficit of more : than three-quarters of a million, there was therefore a surplus of over a million. It was a. good thing for the country that thoposition had been improved to that extent before the present \yar broke out. Otherwise there would have been no loans or very few loans:, to either workers or settlers, at the time when they were needed most.

LAND. The Government's land policy is now coming into operation and: already its fl.eneficient effects, are. being fe'.t tod: appreciated throughout New Zealand. Security of tenure is a 1 prime necessity for the farmer; and the Government has given to the Crown leaseholders and the Lands for . Settlement tenants the right .to acquire the freehold. It has given facilities to workers to get land in the oounlSyjj ft has legislated to stop aggregation, and "it has increased the graduated land tax and income tax to a sbale which is both logical and just. To illustrate fully the advantages gained by the Government's land policy it is necessary 'to shortly point out the various bills introduced from Sir MoNab's bill of 1906. This measure was an air tempt, to destroy the freehold, because it provided that no more unoccupied Crown lands were to be sold, and the remaining Grown lands, at that time 6,0CX),600 acres, were to be reserved "a? a national endowment. Mr McNab tested the feeling of the House on this bi I ], and had to withdraw it. In the following year Mi- McNaJj brought in another measure which provided for the ; reservation of 9.000,000 acres as an endowment, and the balance to be offered under the optional tenure- This bill was termed the half and half, or shandygaff bill. The L.I.P. system was repealed, and the renewable leas© substituted with revaluation every 33 years. In 1908 there was no Land Bil! brought .in, it, being election year. Mr McNab lost his seat, then, and the following year. Sir Joseph Ward took the portfolio of Lands, and introduced another Land Bill . In this the. holder of every class of lease was entitled to the freehold at, the original value,, either for cash or deferred payments, but in neither case _could he his freehold title until 165 years had elapsed? The Crown reserved the right to participate in any increase in value that might accrue to such purchased leaseholds by revaluing same every 33 years. The Crown u'as to receive 10 per cent, of sjch increase on L.1.P.. leases, 20 per cent, on renewable leases if not settlemerit land, and 40 per cent, on renewnb''a leases of settlement land./ In 1910 yet another measure was introduced by which every holder of .an L.I.P. section whether of crown land or settlement land was .entitled to purchase the freehold at 'the original value plus 25 per_ cent, on the difference between the original improved value and the present unimproved value. _ This bill, like its. predecessors, had to be -dropped. So drastic were some of its provisions that a man who held one acre over that avowed by the Act, or even if he only occupied it. was liable to a fine of £SOO, or imprisonment for five years.

fins is tli© story of- what the years of the Ward administration did for the land settlement of New Zealand. The trouble was that the.party in power had no men competent to deal with land legislation on a sound basis, and hence the futile striving and record of miserable failure. Contrast this with the clear cut, well defined progressive land policy of the Reform Cabinet. Before • the party took office it was stated with unweary-' rog persistency that the Reform Party would hang fire in land administration.. Nothing, could b© further from the fact.: ."he present Government has increased j land settlement, and, raised the gradu-| ated tax ; thus promoting subdivision. It' hns opeiied up for selection 710 633; I acres of Crown lands, and 83,800 acres : of Native lands, fo. addition. to 23,652acres pui chased Hie present Government by its memoraVe Bill of 1912 gives to the owner \f an L.I.'P. the right to purchase the fee simple of the land, that is to buy his title to the freehold.. In 1913 this privilege was extended to Land for Settlement tenants.; To show you what effect these encouraging measures lias had it is only . necessary for me to point out that during 1913 609 persons purchased 99,127 acres under the Land Acts of 1912 and 1913, at a cost of £108,205.' We all know the difficulty of securing suitable lands at a - prico which admitted of profitable settlement," yet the Government during the two and a quarter years ending June 30th bad subdivided and made available for closer settlement ho less than 1,125,178 acres m 6196, subdivisions. If to this is added the _ Crown lands opened for selection during the same period 710,633 acres, native lands 83,800 acres) ten estates for Settlement ; Act 23,652 acres, you get a grand total or land made available for settlement in two and a quarter years of 1,943.763 acres. What could be more convincing than this record of success to show that the Reform Party was keenly alive to lon-t * c^oser settlement? In ""- i ?• the adult male population, had land. After twenty, years or the Liberal Administration the 1 : proportion was reduced to 23 pei- cent. Was this helping the masses to acquire I their homesteads, and was it the way i to help this young country to agricul- l tura.l anc. pastoral prosperity p ■ J . For ' the last two years of the Ward Administration only 58,846 acres off land were acquired for closer settlement I purposes, "arid during the first two years | of the Reform Government 200,0001 acres 'of land over and above the area provided by Sir Joseph Ward in a corresponding term were made available for . settlement. I It is worth while to turn to the good i results or the Graduated Land Tax ' imposed by tho present Government ,m_1912. During the twelve months :■ ending March 31st, 1914, 37,500 acres j :of freehold rural lands forming part 1 :Of t»g estates were subdivided and dis- | ■;PO6€<J of iriHawke's • Bay district j . alone, • the _ number bf subdivisions I being" 337, with an.average area, of - 111 ' , acres per subdivision. So far from i •the Land Tax being: the "sham, de- j lusion, and ia snare," whidh members J of the Opposition have declared it to ' "be, it tas materially added to th/> tax. i

ation receipts, and helped to provide land for settlement aM>; There is no Denying the fact that the advent of the present party put an end to the tinkering with the land laws of the Dominion. The policy of his party and Government has been tersely summonsed by Mr Massey as settlement, more settlement, and still more settement. And the activity displayed by Mr Massey as head of the Lands Department fully bears out tho desire expressed in these party watchwords. The total number of selectors who had purchased the fee simple of their leases under the Act, acquiring the freehold passed by the Massey Government, was 1411, the total area involved bieng 262,792 acres, while the sum paid was £236,958.

DEFENCE. There is no need for me to say much about the defence policy, so far as. our Territorial System is concerned. Everyone agrees as to the value of that system, and farmers in this district have always realised its importance, though the requirements of training have caused not a little inconvenience will be caused to some by the labour which it draws away, but so long as the inconvenience is not made greater than it neSd be, farmers and others are quite ready to bear this inconvenience as part of their contribution to defence. It is_ a fortunate thing that both the main political parties are equally convinced of the necessity of training our young men so that they may be able to defend the hearths and homes of this dominion if required, and the report of General Sir lan Hamilton is attribute to the way in which the Territorial system has been developed, both by the present Government and its predecessors. "The army of tosaid the distinguished referring to our forces, "puts its best into its work. It is well equipped, well armed, the human material is second to none in the world, and it suffers as a fighting machine only from want of fier.cl work and want of an ingrained habit of discipline." If we had no wars to fear, the value of th© defence training in instilling habits of'discipline, straightening up the phys:ijue, and forming the characters of our young men, would be worth all it costs. But the war has shown even those who were disposed to th.nk otherwise before, that a country needs men trained and able to defend it, if it is to be safe from attack. We are proud also that we have been able to send men home to help the Motherland in her great struggle. Both the Reformers and the Libei als .'deserve equal credit for our compulsory training system, which could not have become so soon the great success it has, if all parties, except a very few extremists, had not been at one as to the need of it. But there is one respect in which the present Minister for Defence showed a foresight that was not shared by the Opposition in regard to this defence force. You remember outcry was made by the Opposition Press when Mr Allen went to England over the question of an Expeditionary Force. In an interview with a London panel* which was published on Jamvirv 31st, 191.3. Mr Allen s'fiid that an important question he had to discuss with the imperial authorities was "the organisa-ton" of .a New Zealand Expeditionary Force," and he mentioned that he aimed at being able to send 8000 men abroad on Imperial Service when necessary. That was all that' was cabled to New Zealand, but the full, report of :Mr< Allen's; remarks, afterwards. available in—tho London "Morning Post," showed that the Minister expressly stated that the force would be a. volunteer force. Of course he could not send any other sort of force to help the Mother Countrv, since the Defence Act specially provides that the fnmtiiilsnvv services of Nov/ Zer.lnnd Territorials shall anplv only to this country. Tt is important to know, also, that on December 11th, 1912,' just before he left for England. :it a public gathering over which Sir Robert Stout presided, and which was reported by the newspapers, Mr Allen referred to this very idea of an Expeditionary Force. ] As reported in the "New Zealand Times." the Wellington Opposition journrl, his words were as follows : "The time was coming when they would have to answer a question from Britain that had not yet been answered.. It :,w.as this : What are you prepared to do if the time comes when we want your aid ?. How many men can von send us P The Expeditionary Force here was notyet org;'nised, but the time had come when Britain might say to New Zealand, 'We want your men, armed, ■equipped, and ready at. onoe to be drafted with .the greater organisation whenever it may be called upon.to go.' He hoped that not many months would go by before the organisation was complete under which they would be able to send away, if necessary, as perfect a* trained force as it was possible to equip."' That speech was made in. Wellington on December 11th, 1912, vet when Mr Allen; was reported a few thing, an outcry was raised bv the Onposition Press that he was com mi t•titi<? the.Dominion to something which -had: ney»r Iwen raised before, that it was proposed to keen u/p a standing army in New Zealand, and that the men would:he sent away eoronnlsrft'ilv. A wonderful series of charges had h<ym invents! previously bv the Opposition one after-' the other to bring the Government into discredit. But none of these charges were kept up so long Or pressed so hotly , as the charge urged against; Mr Allen, because he proposed to set up machinery. ■ merely, no that if a Voluntary Expeditionary Force was ever needed from New Zealand by the Mother Country, it would be ready in the shortest time. The attack was kept iip in the Press and in Parliament while Mr Allen "was away, and after, he returned. j And what did this _ abused plan of preparing for an Expeditionary Force mean? It \meant that when the war broke out, and a request came from the Mother Country for New Zealand to send a force of 1400 to take Samoa,- which _ was very valuable as a German base in the Pacific, the men were ready to go practically within a week of the call. Everyone then saw the value of Mr Allen's ideas in connection with an Expeditionary Force. The question of naval defence is another question to which a new significance has been given by the war, and in regard to which I think the ideas of the present Minister of Defence have been entirely justified. The discussion of this question dates from the agreement which Sir Joseph Ward made with tho Admiralty in 1909. Under that agreement a Pacific squadron w as to be established—what the Opposition decry now as a ' 'local navy," only of course it was to consist of British ships. The scheme provided for three naval units in East India, China, and Australian seas, of which one—the . one that concerns us roost particularly, was to be divided between . the China Station and New Zealand. The dreadnought, "New Zealand"- was to be the flagship of the China squadron, and two Bristol cruisers, three destroyers, and two submarines were to be stationed in New Zealand .waters. The Admiralty was unable to carry out its share of this agreement,- because they could not spare their vesfcels from the' North Sea. The China Squadron, instead of being strengthened, was' made weaker, so that more ships might be available for the defence of the North. Sea. No one has ever found fault with the Admiralty for breaking the agreement, and deciding to : put its ships where they were needed most urgently; The Mackenzie : Government did not:hesitate to agree to a request that our Dreadnought should be placed in the North Sea instead of on the China and their decision m this matter was- confirmed by

the present Government as soon as it came interoffice. But though the Admiralty could not spare ships for NewZealand waters, having a greater need for them elsewhere, that surely did not alter the need for having some reliable vessels to protect our shores. If they were heeded when the 1909 agreement was drawn up, and in the old days when the Australian Squadron was divided between Australia and New Zealand waters, before the Commonwealth navy took its place to defend Australian shores, surely they wer© needed still. When the Admiralty was unable to carry out its 1909 agreement it offered to send a light cruiser to New Zealand in place of the two British cruisers, and other craft previously decided on. The Massey Government did not think that this light cruiser would be of much use to anyone, so it offered to add £50,000 a year to this country's naval subsidy, making it £150,000 instead of £IOO,OOO, if the Admiralty would send vessels of the Bristol type instead of the light cruiser. The Admiralty, however, could not spare the large vessels, so it was suggested that Parliament should be) asked to authorise the purchase of a' Bristol cruiser -at an estimated cost of £400,000. This proposal was deferred in the last Parliament because suggestions were being made for the holding or an Empire Defence Conference next year, in which representatives of all ,® om ' D ' ons and of the Admiralty "®uld take part, to discuss the best methods of naval defence, and it was thought that the matter could be considered with advantage by this, conferCTce, before New Zealand decided as to the purchase of a cruiser. An important Will was passed by last Parliament, however, m the session before last, which nas been very much, misrepresented »y the Opposition, and which it ,*> explain. The Bill provided for the training of New Zear.w • i se , a^ en , . on the training-ship Pmlomel, which has been placed by tho Admiralty at the disposal of the rsew Zealand Government fo<r that purpose, and on any other ships which might be organised by New Zealand m future. The Bill provided that the annual subsidy of £IOO,OOO paid previously to the British Admiralty with, out any conditions as to its expenditure should be devoted in the first place to the training of New Zealand©rs fox- the navy, and any balance left over should be at the Admiralty's disposal Most important of all the Bill provided that any shins which might, bo acquired by New Zealand should be aiitomatically under the control of the Admiralty whenever it expressed a need for them, and should be avail- , use ?ny part of the world where they might be required. It will be seen that the Government has not discontinued the naval subsidy as members of the Opposition have aiieged. Fa.r from doing that,- it has offered to add 50 per cent, to it, ifS>lie Admiralty can provide to Bristol cruisers for this country and, with the consent of Parliament, to undertake the expense of purchasing at'least one Bristol cruiser itself for a beg'nuing. in addition to devoting the eubsidv of £1.00.000 a year to the training of New Zealand seamen. Tho Admiralty is a firm believer in tho training of' Now Zealand seamen, and lias itself suggested that this should be done. The Admiralty, as a matter of fact, doe? not la.ok money for tho Navy—our £IOO. (XX) a year would not go anyj-}? re v lf ifc d'd—but it has found"a diffirultv for many years in obtaining a- wirficient nntfibpr of mpn. The expenses of Mr Allen's scheme as he has worked it out, woud not for many year? at-any rate be anytlimc hire so great as the / expenses of a scheme which S : r Joseph Ward mapped out at the Imperial Conference of 1911. was to raise the naval contribution of this country at one jump from 2 5 per head to lOs—a cost of £500.000 a year.

If Japan was net our Ally, or if Australia had had no "toy" navy, a single German vessel like the Emden might have bombarded Timaru or Christchurch just as easily as it bombarded Papeete. Wherever the ships come from they will be part of the British Navy, under control the moment war threatens. That is the case at present with the Australian Fleet. It is not senafate, in rea' ty, from the Imperial Navv, but ranks a« a division of it, and a very useful div.sion it has shown itself to be

CIVIL SERVICE REFORM. Reference was next made to the Civil service, tho candidate showing how the Reform Party had improved the lot or civil servants.'

.The investigation by the Commisres'jltcd in a saving of £47,000 . per annum and notwithstandingt.iis. numerous increases have been made m salaries.. Under the ; new system every inale officer on reaching bis 21st year must hn.ve a minimum of £IOO per annum. The salaries of all other low paid officers have been increased and provision has been made a long service increment of about oa per day, to officers of the general division who .have had fifteen years service and whose salaries did not exceed £IBO per snnum.

THE STRIKE. Referring to the strike the speaker explained the genesis of tho industrial upheaval and said:—l feel that there is not one among you who is not in accord with the Government's action in declaring- that the elected representatives or all the people should rule this land instead of the officials of the Red Federation. The men were shown every leniency. They -were offered the Arbitration Oou'rt but they declined it They also were asked to state their case before a special tribunal in the person of the honourable Sir Joshua Williams. But this thoy also refused. Every man lias a right to strike hut he should not pan?,lyse_ tho industry, and trade of the community until he has previously tried all other i-emedies and failed. Sir Joseph "Ward said that he could have settled the strike in two days by legislation, but what legislation would the honourable gentleman have introduced ? He has not told us, and as.far as can be judged the only way that the strikers would have been induced to resume work was by giving them all they asked. The farmers of 1 New Zealand owe thanks to the Government for their firm and courageous handling of the crisis which will secure for many years the uninterrupted shipping of their grain and other products. There was no attempt to reduce wages, no attempt to crush the legitimate organisation of labour, but there was an uncompromising handling of the tyranny of the Red Federation, and a consequent freeine of the honest industrious worker of New Zealand from a thraldom worse than that imposed by the severest of taskmasters. As a conseauence there was conserved to every willing worker, that most inalienable of . all .rights, the right to work, n. right to sell IIIV labour to the higfiest bidder, irrespective ■ of the Socialist Red Federation strilcemakers. ■ • FOR WAG-E-EARNERS. Continuing," the candidate said: — Perhaps there is no feature of the Government's administration which has given a more direct refutation to the charges of their opponents than that of the treatment extended by Mr Massey's Government'to the wage earners of New Zealand. It was said that tho Government would do nothing for the .wage earners. What are the facts ? (V) The Government has improved the conditions of employment under- the Shops and Offices Amendment Act, 1913, and the Shipping and Seamen's Amendment Act, 1913, both amendments giving increased facilities to the worker. The Government has increased the; wages sheet of the Government Printing Office; added an extra £120,000 per annum .to the wages, of, the railway servants, and liberalised their

holiday and sick leave allowance. (2) They havo increased rates of-pay, and improved the conditions of the Police Department. (3) They havo placed tho omployees of tlie jianue Department on a footing better than that enjoyed by men in the employ of private shipping companies-

Other liberal measures on behalf of the workers are these:—

I.i) liiey have liberalised under the Workers' Compensation Act the amount payable to apprentices who (have- been permanently injured under 21 years of age, to practically journeymen's wages. (2) They have extended the time for making claims by dependents of seamen and others by the Shipping Amendment Act from twelve to eighteen months. (3) Tho right to recover compensation or damages in respect of any accident to a worker, now survives the death of any party. (-1) The employees of the Crown are brought under the benefit of the compensation Act. (5) The funeral and medical expenses recoverable under compensation are increased from £2O to £SO. They have also strengthened the arbitration law by providing that a secret ballot must be taken before a strike can l>o declared and the Industrial Disputes Bill provides new machinery so that industrial troubles may be settled peacefully, and not by holding up the whole trade of the Dominion. The question of a fair rent is an important one for the masses, and this is being solved by means of the Government. erection of workers' dwellings. This scheme is now extended by the Massey Government to farm workers generally, as well as town workers, and shey are able to procure with the dwelling the freehold of their section which may be up to 20 acres. During the six years of the Ward Government 210 dwellings were erected, whereas during the three years of tho Massey administration 305 dwllings were erected, or an increase of over 300 per cent. In regc.rd to workers' savings, which aro mostly deposited in the Savings Bank, an increase of -J per cent, has '■been given, this mnlcuig n> difference*, of £4O 000 per annum added to the workers' earnings. During the last five years of tho Liberal administration the amount advanced under the Advances to Workers' Act. averaged £363 - 223 per annum, whereas for tho financial year ending March 31st, 1913, the Reform Government had advanced to workers £449.260, and this at a time when money was' as scare as it oould possibly bo.

"EDUCATION." The Education qujt'sLion was next (It l <i 11 wita in detail. Mr Ivwrr explained tho Bill of last session., showed iiow teacners' salaries flat! oetai increased, and their conditions improved in var.ous wuys, and sai<i he wouul have been very sorry had the South Canterbury Board-,been abolished. ' A Dominion stale/ of .salaries had been demanded for a Long timo by teachers. J- 1 !jo Ministry has not found it practicable" to introduce this schemo at once, but tins Bill is a long stop towards it. Before there can be dominion scale for teachers it is necessary to have a uniform grading of teachers for all the education districts. The only way to ensure uniform grading was to provide that all the Inspectors should act on the same system so that the grades, which they givo to teachers m the different districts should aE have the same value. Mr Allen has endeavoured to bring thi s about by reducing the number of the Boards, and making the Inspectors direct officials of tho Department instead of officials of the Boards. The Bill- provided that uniform grading shall be carried out later—when the inspectors have come under the direct control of the Department. Then tho Dominion scale of salaries, long desired by teachers, will lie a practicable improvement to carry out. Store liberal provisions have been made for the financing of school committees—to the amount of £4OOO altogether—and technical schools. It has also been provided tliat- donations made to primary schools- shall be subsidised, £ for £, by tho Government, as those made to district High schools have been hitherto; It will be seen that the present Government- has not dealt superficially with the requirements of education.' Railways and reform, of tho Legislative, Council wefe also dealt with, and on the Bible-in-Sdbo >ls question Mr Kerr said:—l donot think it would bo wise to interfere with the present system of free secular and compulsory education. It has worked now satisfactorily for thirty-seven years, the majority of us have been brought up under it, a.nd I have seen no reasons adduced that would lead me to think that a change is desirable. A question like this, involving, it appears to me. tho rights of, conscience, is not a suitable ono to he submitted to a referendum, and a bare majority would not carry the weight of public opinion, sufficient to make the Act permanently operative, and would only lead to attempts to upset it, or to still further upset the <educA.tional systftjii of the country, and-lead to sectarian _ strife in our schools and school committees. LICENSING QUESTION; On the; Licensing question the candidate said This burniu'g question is ono

that wo all are familiar with, and tho reasons, for and against tho different i percentages for continuance and prohi- ( bition arc known to everyone by means < of tho strenuous propaganda arid de- * fence movements undertaken by the 1 No-License League and tho Trade. I 1 will support if I have the honour to ( represent this district in Parliament the 1 55 per cent, in tho National IssUe, and 1 the GO in the Local Option issue. ' CONCLUSION. In conclusion, Mr Kerr said:—X feel 'i that many of you know as much of the '' politics of the Dominion as I do,'and I confidently ask your support at tho ap- ( proaching ballot as a representative of the Reform Party, which stands for sound administration, liberal conditions J to Labour, and freedom for tho farm- . ing and commercial classes to pursue , their industries under the best possible , conditions. Should I have the honour i to represent you I will do my utmost. .< ,to justify the confidence reposed in mo, i and to look after the wants of every i part of the district. I. may say that my I interests are entirely bound up with tho I prosperity of the soil, and this gives mo I a certain amount of confidence in ask- 1 ing the suffrages of one of tho chief ! agricultural districts in the South Island. } Tho Opposition candidates go • back 1 twenty-five years to explain why their i party should be supported. I do not i think wo are much concerned to-day 1 with what happened twenty or twenty- 1 five years ago. I believe that, whatever anyone did before then, tho Reform Party lias done good work for the Dominion in tho last three years. We know what tho present Opposition, said would happen if ever tho Reform Party came into power. They said that ail the best acts of Liberalism would bo abolished, that tho country would stagnate, th;-t soup-kitchens would come back again and that workers would get no more than 8s 6d a. day. Now we know that tho country is not ' stagnating. We miglit_ expect that* money would be short since the great w6r iias been raging for three months, but things ennnot bo very bad when both at the Christchureh and Auckland race meetings last week the investments on the totalisator were greater than they had ever been before. We know that instead of useful legislation being abolished more land has been thrown open for closer settlement than before the present Government came into . office}, advances to settlers and workers have been increased, more money has been spent on public works, pensions schemes have been extended, workers' dwellings have been built —more than were over built before—in _ the country, as well as in the towns. I "iis.vo not seen any workers working ior os 6(1 a day, anil wo know that the conditions of workers in the Railway Department, Education Department, Police Department, and others, have been greatly improved. . ( I am quite satisfied to judge the present Government by its actions.; I think also that it would lie a foolish thing to change the Government which has, all the threads of naval and military matters in its hands, wliiio the war is at its height. No one can sny that the Reform policy is not truly liberal, truly progressive, and truly practicable. And we know that the Massey Government includes strong men, -who will he able to carry suchia policy into effect. The Opposition party in these days consists very mueli of one man—Sir Joseph Ward —and one man cannot make a satisfactory Government. If tho Opposition party under Sir Joseph Ward did come back to power by any chance, it would almost certainly be dependent on the lied Fed vote in Parliament, and that is not a pleasant prospect to look forward to. I have tlie fullest confidence, however, in tho prospects of the Party for which I have tho honour to bo standing. I must tlinnk you most sincerely for the hearing you have given me, and I leave the issuo with confidence in your hands. QUESTIONS. Afc the conclusion o;f the speech questions were invited, and the candidate was kept busy for about threequarters of an hour answering these. In reply to questions Mr Kerr said Sir Joseph Ward introduced tho Widows' , Pensions Bill, but Mr Massey had improved it by reducing the age at which tho pension could l>e received, from _ 65 to GO. years. (Apijlause.) He bslieved in tlie country quota so that tho towns should not have an unfair advantage over tho country. He did not favour proportional representation for the Lower House, but it was to. bo tried with respect to t ! he Upper House three years hence. It would be very inconvenient to travellers if the hotels closed at tho same hour as tho shops. But for Mr Massey they would hhvo been paying more for their bread than they were at tifye present time. • But for tho fixing of a price by the .'Government wheat might, have been rushed up by speculators to 10s per bushel. He .was not> in favour.of reducing the time from'four to two years for closing the hotels supposing prohibition were carried. The Second Ballot hod been repealed but it had bwu found impossible to find a substi-

tute for it. Mr Massey was going to : try proportional representation with tho Uppor House. Mr Massey hnd notdone on® tiling to tho detriment of the worker, Ho challenged anyono to disprove tlhat statement. (Applause.) Mr Massey had said lie would limit expenditure, and ho had done ifant. He approved of the Hon. J. Allen's naval proposals. It was untrue to say that tJie.se proposals ware!, condemned by Mr - Churchill and all tho naval experts. Mr Massoy had incieased taxation, but it was on Jargo incomes, death duties, and in, tlio graduated land tax —on those who. were able to afford it. The irinn who i said that Mr Massey had advanced less to settlors and workers than Bin Joseph Ward, did not know what tlx? Wjtw talking about. (lighter./ No, lie would not break any pjcdgeH. Mr Massoy in two years and, t!hhio months borrowed fourteen millions, while Sir Joseph Word in' tho stuno length of time borrowed sixtoon -millions. The present Government had ' given tho option of tho freehold, «nind a ' Jot of tho hind that was being Hold'at ' ! 18s per aero was similar to the Mackenzie Country land. Membws df the federated unions of worlcerg would 1m much btetter oil' as a result .of Ml* Masse,v's Secret Ballot Bill. _Ho was not in favour of licensing private boardinghouses. Ho wa« opposed to Wtate grants for Catholic schools, lie admired the way tho Catholic* supported their own schools. He did not approve <>f State land being submitted to puldio auction. The Government had its hands , full onoutrh at present without starting; a State sliipning servico, though bp> approved of'the State owning tbefoW'y service between Wellington and Lyttol-' ton. Tho Expeditionary Force wria purely a voluntary one and .mctffc.' '*<Pthose who had left with it had ,'lw?id previous military experience. Ho had served his time in the Volunteora jand was quite satisfied with iho oontlitSjpijs. The present Territorials wore bettor «> treated than the old Volunteers. A| <ui employer ho was nuito prepared to" Job his own men off for ;nilitnr.v trnirfinu. The Government, made no mietal«t ju appointing Mr 1?.0,vd Gr.rliek. He m , in favour of the leasehold as a stfypAiny stone to the freehold. The prwnt»jßnvernment did not vote against a. remie« tion of the hours for womon \vorlce» % Tnctoriew from 4ft to 45 m w®»k !®h« J Upper House threw ■the manaum Jamil; Bayinrr that the matter wns cnoJjtraphe Arbitration Court. _ The eh airman soid flint the ronfliSntA 1 had had a long enteehism -and it '' ho agreed thnt he had a.UMi^odJfcbrt questions in a very >■ wav. CAnolausrO > «5Tm THANKS AND ' ■ ' Mr G. B. Cartwright £ A' hmrty vote of thanks to atwl eotriidifeoo 1 in Mr Kerr, whose address that julKjL <-K'ho .said, had been a veiy Kor editable one. * , ffi ;>1 Mrs C. B»tca seconded Che ' •/** a neat littlo speech, in %> which Bho said that they -Jrij eonfidenoo in tho present as well as in Mr lverr. Tho motian wis carried, \sth heartiness, the meeting with^choers^a^t^r