THE GENERAL ELECTION

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10298, 1 November 1911, Page 4

THE GENERAL ELECTION

TO-NIGHT'S MEETINGS. Mr G. Forbes, Rotharham School. Mr D. Mucfivrlano, Ashley Schoolhouso. Mr J. M'Combs, Philiipßtown School. Mr D. G. Sullivan, Upper Ricoarton School. Mr C. Cook, Port Levy Schoolroom. Mi? F. Howell, Doyleatou School. *&» y. A. Hardy, Oromor* Sohool. Mr W. -J. Dickio, Russell's Flat School. a®r J- H. Blackweil, "West Eyraton Kail. Mr G. Armstrong, Sprin/skm Public Hall figr J. E. Petherielr. feint's Theatra. W. R. Smith, lioileston Street Hall.

TO-MORROW NIGHT'S MEETINGS. ' Mr V/. J. Dickie, Glmiroy So,hook Mr J. H. Black-.voll, SwaunantHi Hall. Mr G. Armstrong, Grtwipark School. Hon D. Buckle, Oddfellows' Hnll, Kaiapoi. Mr D. D. Macfarltrae, Waipara Timber Wheels. Mr C. Cook, Toddindcm Schoolroom. Mr C. H. Ensor, T«mp!f:ion Hivll. Mr G. Porbefl, Wainu Hall. Mr 0. A. C. Hardy, "Wakanui School.

CHRISTCinraCB EAST.

fIMR HUNTER'S OPENING SPEECH. . I Mr H. Hunter, Labour candidate for Christchuroh East, opened Ins cam- • Ijpaign in the Walfcham Schoolroom last ['evening. Mr A. IX Hart presided, , [.'find about two hundred persons atjfcended. Tho chairman said that all workers [kri«w what the Conservatives and what the Liberals had done for them, and it IWafl time that Labour had a chaneo to bee what it could do. | Mr Hunter said that ho felt somewhat iiervoug. Be had had some Wperienoe in municipal affairs, as the electors had been good enough to place jiitn at the head of the poll for the Sydenham Ward. Ever since he had ; Been before the public, and he had tried to do his best in the City Couiioil on behalf of those who had sent him ; there. Although the Labour members •were in a minority on tho Council, they Jiad done really good work. At any !ra.te, his friends in Christchurch East were so pleased with tho result of tho 'municipal elections that they felt ho should contest tho seat at the parliamentary election. In 1808 the Trades Councils' Conference severed its connection with tho Party. ' It came to that conclusion because the workers could not obtain from that party the measure of justice to which they were entitled. In 1910 the Trades Councils met in conference in Auckland, and it was then deoided to establish a Labour Party, completely apart from tho Liberal Party, and it was the platform of the Labour Party upon which ho Stood. In 1890 there was a groat industrial upheaval. As a result the workers took 1 political action and returnedi members to Parliament. But it was not an alliance bot\. -Tii the Liberals and the porkers. It was only an amalgamation. The Labour Party was working on a different basis now. It had decided to send its own members to Parliament, if possible. . The present Government had not done as much for the workers as it might have done.' It had voted £2,000,000 for a Dreadnought without consulting the people at all. That was quite an autocratic aotion, yet it was supported by Liberal members. Why, it would be as well to let Sir Joseph Ward become a Dictator right away. It was futile to send members to Parliament if they endorsed that kind of thing. A majority of members of the Liberal !Party, he believed, were in favour of the freehold tenure of land, although it Was an allegedly leasehold Government that they kept in power. The Labour Party was out for a straight fight, and " would not introduce personalities, but if the other side kicked the party would kick back. Members of the Labour 'Party, would not go to meetings and "harass candidates, but would only attend and ask questions at the proper time. Amongst tho items on the platform he 'advocated were the abolition of monopolies and the nationalising of the industries they interfered with. i . Organised labour was ' standing against anti-labour or capital, and it was for the workers to get as much as they could. The Party advocated that the State should conduct the ferry lervice between Wellington and Lyttelton. The manufacturers had received nearly all tho benefit from the alterations of the Customs tariff, and the . Government should establish State fac- • tories. There should be no further sale of Crown lands. On that question he had had a controversy with the editor of . bhe " Lyttelton Times" lately, and he wished to point out the great difference . between the present polioy of the . f,Times" and the polioy it followed some twenty years ago. In its issue of Beptember 26, 1890, commenting on a ipeech delivered by Mr Ballance at - Wanganui, it said:—" The utter breakdown. of the cash system and the car- , nival of fraud, jobbery and speculation which has been going on in various jparts ,of the colony have sickened every thinking observer. Even Government officials are found .advocating draatio reform. The people have awak- • ©ned to what is going on, and are unanimous that our remaining waste lands should be reserved for men who will go on them, live on them, work them, and be satisfied to told. them. Here Mr Ballance , certainly speaks the mind of the large majority of the electors." On October 26, 1890, commenting on a •peeoh by Sir Robert Stout at Napier, it said" Dummyism as it does, lying, fraud and perjury, is not the' worst evil wrought by the cash system. It does not injure the public and the colony so much as legal land Speculation and the enlargement of holdings. The only virtue possessed by the cash jsystem is that it provides revenue. That is a poor apology for a ■ bad;arrangement." They could see the differenoe between the policy of the ; " Timea " then and the policy now. It . ,waa really a lack of polioy in these Says. The editor of the " Times " had called upon him to produce evidence in . regard to his accusations against the ' Government. Tho evidence was in co.n- ---< jiection with speculation in leases. Leaseholds, indeed,. had proved to bo better for the purposes of speculation than the freehold. He would like to know what the "Times" would have to say about the difference between its attitude to-day and its attitude twenty ▼ears ago. The Government had sold • 255,718 acres of Crown lands in ten years. Yet the public were asked to < believe that it was a leasehold Government, Under tho Government's im- . proved farm settlement system, employment was provided for the settlers •on co-operative works in bush country, grass-seed: was supplied and men+o sow the land in grass, Joans were given to erect huts, the settlers were paid for 'fencing the properties, and other iaciUties were given. The Government did all that for those men. And the men, after they had been en the land 'for a few years, sold out with a bi<r goodwill, pocketed the money, and away they cleared. Tn allowing that kind of thing, the ly was not, looking after tbo tef the taxpayer. Tt was nil rlsrht for the few men who went on to the settlements. but what about tho townspeople who had to nay interest on the Sncwvsy borrowed to nla.ee those icen on {ftfe TanflL The fact tr*- tiling Hhould he stopped. It shonM have been allowed to occur. fie knew j of instances. Tn one ease, a man j helcl. a. section of twenty-two acres for , four years, and sold out at £l4 an aero." In a section of one hundred acres, the settlor sold at £0 ail acre, making £9OO, after living on the land for nine years. Anr*Vmr sett'"f sold at £22 an acre, or £1320. Then the jgclitor of the "Tsm*s" considered tlint •the sneaker was going too far when he fcak| that the Government wps false to Its trust. What he wanted to know !WaS, where the t&Tmnyer ram? in? The national debt had been iu~

j " When you want a pleasant pliyaic \ * Chamberlain's Tablet-3. 2

creased, and the self-reliant policy of iß9i hud not been carried out. Increased vaiues had been pocketed by land monopolists, while tlio workingman had to pay for the loans. Tne Liberal Party had stated that it would nail its colours to the mast, but when tho time came the colours were quickly lowered. The Government should have abandoned office before it abandoned principlea. Sir Joseph VYard complained about the large landowners, it tlio Labour Party got into poire* ifc would put a tax on tho large landowners that would very soon get rid of them.

Another item on the platform was increaao in the income tax. There were very few in that room who paid income tax, and tho tax could very safely bo in ore a.sod. liie bulk of taxation at present was raised through the Customs, which mostly affected the workers. Custom taxation was out of ail proportion to workers' wages, and should ue reduced. There snould be increased death duties. The mortgagee indemnity should be wiped out. The State fir© Insurance Department was in collusion with tho private companies. Tho party was anxious to have a to Work Bill. The Arbitration Act should be amended. The president should be guided by equity rather than by law. He was secretary to several labour organisations, and had no confidence in going before the Judge. In tho future he would advice unions not to go before- the Court unless the constitution was altered.

The Defence Act should be repealed. It was not right to give the Governor power to embc •. - the Territorials in the permanent and in that way to soud them anywhere he liked. Volunteers and EiSe Clubs should be encouraged. Thero certainly was no need for compulsory military training; in this country. Men. had been absolutely starved out of the volunteers. The Imperial sentiment yeas being fostered at the expense of the national sentiment associated with the dominion. The national sentiment in that direction should be fostered to a, greater extent in the schools. In reply to questions ho Raid that the uo-liconse question wan not discussed in Labour organisations. It was a question for each person to settle on the day of the poll.' But the party was cut to secure a bare majority on every question. The abolition of the totalisator should be decided by a referendum. The Labour Party could not do anything in the matter until it was placed in power.

He was asked which side he would vote with in the case of a no-confi-dence motion in Parliament. He said that when he left that meeting he would walk home with those who were going his way. In politics he would go the way of those who were going nearest to the way the Labour Party wished to go. lu other words, he would vote with tho?e who were prepared to give most to the party. ' r Would you support Sir Joseph Ward or Mr Massey on a direct no-confidence motion? he was asked. " That depends upon the circumstances," he replied; " it depends upon the principle, and I would vote on principle. If it suited our platform, and if Mr Massey was prepared to give us something in our platform that the Ward Government would not give, I would .support Mr Massey," In reply to another question he said, "We will support the party which is going towards our ideals. Our object is to establish Labour as a distinct entity. It has dragged at tho heels of the Liberal Party too long."

A vote of thanks and confidence was unanimously passed, on the motion of Mr H. Withers, seconded by Mr Thorpe.

THE RICCARTON SEAT. MR C. H. ENSOR'S CANDIDATURE. ADDRESS AT RICOARTON SCHOOL. Mr C. H. Ensor, who is a* candidate for tho Riccarton seat as an Independent, strongly oppoaad to the Ward Administration, opened his campaign at the Upper Riocarton Sohoolroorn last night. There was a largo attendance, including a great many ladiea. Mr H. Manhire oooupied the ohair, and briefly introduced tho oandidate. Mr Ensor, by way of introduction, said that the large attendance on a wet evening showed there was still strong interest in politics in tho diotriot. He was standing as an Independent, and was hitching himself to neither of the politioal parties of the day. He intended to steer clear of party wrangles. Many good people had supported the Liberal Administration, but Ballance was dead and tho great Seddon was dead. They had now the Ward Administration. All had done some good, but there was bad mingled with it, and he must sound a note of warning so far as the Ward Government was concerned. The speaker went on to protest against the large number of costly Commissions which had latterly been set up, because the present Administration was incapable of dealing ' with these small matters. He believed a Young New Zealand Party would rise from the ashes of tho present Ward and Opposition parties. With new men,, new and important measures could be passed, and the party quarrel of the past would be forgotten.

He could leave the editor of the "Lyttelton Times" to tall them all

the good things tho Liberals had done. It was the speaker's duty to criticise the Ward Administration. In two years the Ward Administration had borrowed £10,000,000. Sir J. Ward was called the wizard of finance. Mo would bo better named the "financial lizard." In the days of Seddon the country's finances were in safe hands. In 1893 Sir J. Ward indicated that tho borrowing policy would cease. He had since borrowed £42,000,000. The speaker was glad to see that the Labour Party roalised that this borrowing policy was no good to the country. It ■ was' often said a large part of the public debt was reproductive. Bo was a rabbit, but net of good. The national debt, whether productive or unproductive, meant the payment of interest out of the country.

Sir Joseph Ward set out the assfets of the country in his recent Budget as about £89,000.000. The speaker contoured that the amount of assets was £79,785,2'75. The managers of tho country had mortgaged that business for £81,078..122. leaving a debit balance of £1,289,047. Sir Joseph Ward made up tho assets as follows.:—Crown lands £22,000,000, educational land and buildings £5.038,615, other public works £6.000,000, advances to settlers £20,000,000, Land for Settlements lands £6,000,000, Bank of Now Zealand shares £2.000,C00, Reserve Fund securities £BOO,OOO. The speaker set down the value of the advances to settlers assets at £7,939,700, the amount lent. Mo believed Sir Joseph Ward had added tho value of the securities lor the mcn3y advanced to the amount lent. In regard to tho Bank of New Zealand shares, he would get them down as £500,000. They wore bearing interest at 15 per cent, and had evidently been written up to the extent of 300 per cent. If this was the case, and lie thought it was clear that it was, the "Ward Administration had cooked the country's balance sheet. If it wrote up its good assets, surely it should writo down its bad ones. The country was over-mortgaged, and if ifc was tho intention of the Government to still further mortgage it, the property of private oiti&ens would ba mortgaged by tho Government. The national assets were about £6,000,900, but that was not tho amount of the State's assets. He had no doubt the " Lyttelton Times " would try to prove him wrong, and if it succeeded he would gladiy acknowledge his errors.

He objected to the practice of bringing down the Public Works Estimates at the end of a session. It served the Prime Minister well, as it gave him an opportunity of punishing members who did not please him during the session. The practice made it possible for the Government, if it chose to do so, to practically buy votes with the people's own money. He considered that expenditure on public works should be controlled by local bodies, assisted by Government subsidies, graduated according to the resources of each local body. Under the system of constructing public works by co-operative labour, the hard-working, thrifty worker was penalised to benefit those' less efficient. Mon who worked hard enough to make over nine shillings a day were given a harder task on their next contract, and were thus discouraged from exerting themselves. If the railways were built by ordinary contract, or under ordinary business methods, one-third greater mileage could have been constructed for the same expenditure, tip to March, 1893, 1880 miles of railway were constructed at a cost of £14,733,120, or £7Bll per mile. From March 1893, to Maroh, 1910, 831 miles of railway wore constructed at a cost of £13,780,536, or £16,582 por mile, a Ims to the dominion of £4,616,658, which would have made 460 miles of railway at £IO,OOO per mile. In the five years from 1907 to 1911, the expenditure had risen from £7,774,926 to £10,136,566, an increase of £2,861,640. The State had shown itself utterly unable, to manage its socalled " State enterprises " as efficiently as similar private industries were conducted.

Dealing with the labour question, Mr .Ensor said that it was possible the present wages system had seen its day. Dismissing the socialisation remedy as impracticable, he went on to recommend the adoption of systems of pro-fit-sharing. Oairy-farming on shares had_ proved very successful in the dominion. Ho thought if the State would conduct an experiment in profitsharing in one of its own branches of business, the results would be very instructive and valuable. As a means of reducing rents Mr Ensor suggested oneaper fares to suburban districts, or the adoption of Lloyd George's system • ?: nd , taxation, under which agricultural land was exempt, but a portion of the unearned increment on town lands was taken. In caso of a sale of land, 20 per cent ot tne increase in value since last valuation was taken, 10 per cent goinp to national revenue and 10 por cent to e loeru authority. The speaker believed the I\ew Zealand system of taxation on rural lands was not making tor increased productiveness. In 1890 there were 825,505 acres of land in INew Zealand under wheat. In 1900 tne acreage unclcr wheat was 742,325, *i. iA C ' ; ' ()B 84,180 acres. This meant that the price of bread was being forced Up by the system of taxation. The Ward Government had no settled land policy. The land wtus not being Settled fast enough. Sir Joseph Waid recently said it would be necessary to bring m legislation to reduce "land values, to make it possible for the Government to buy more land for closer settlement. That meant the reduction in the value of every farm holding in ■New Zealand. That was urnviss and unnecessary. Last j'ear the Government bought 14,399 acres for £168,000. V> hy, one firm of land agents in Christchurch had a turnover of £600:000 worth of land every year. The State had an option over every ostnte iri the country, and while tho private individual had .to pay 5 to 7 per cent for borrowed money the Government had the money at per cent. When iii« Government bought land with borrowed money it was replacing the capital of New Zealand citizens by that*" of abeentats. if New Zealand v;.s to be settled it should be settled on the freeh*'kl, by New Zealand psophj end with Zealand capital, or eJse peonle v/itii capital should be induced to conie to l\ew Zealand and settle on IrecJiold. lie considered taxation f.iiould hj Co.; uacd onjy to idle, unpiv.<li;ctivo land, or land hold for upeenhition. I'-io ] hind that was worked up to its productive limit should be taxed. The tax he proposed would enforce productiveness. As an instance of the way the Ward Administration catered foi speculators there was its action in muking tho Native Lands Committee judges in the Mokau block ease, instead of putting th&ui in the dock. 'lhe s;;e;il;c,T went on to give details of profits' u:ado on Mokau transaction.*, and said that the late Minister cf Lands, Mr M'Nab, was the chairman of one of the profitmaking syndicates involved.

In regard to the defence question, the candidate said there was danger lrom an Oriental invasion. Dofenco was necossary, but there was no necessity tor compulsion in any defence scheme. (Ihe Empire had never had a compulsory army in the past, and it did not need it now. The schrtiiie was a veiy expensive one., and would cost, with naval items, £fiß«l J OGO a year. In conclusion, Mr Enacr said he had indicted the Ward Administration with keeping its accounts in a manner no private firm would have kept them. In reply to questions/Mr Eneor said that he considered the Bank of New Zealand shares held by the Government should be written down to £OOO,OOO, their original value, because their 15 per cent value was an inflated value. In the event of war tlio shares would go down by leaps arid bounds. He was opposed to an export duty on wool, to encourage the local woollen industrv. Tho only minority

To feel well is gratifying ; to bo v>*eU is satisfying;. Ohambarlain's Tablets produce botn sensations. 2

he knew of ruling in New Zealand was the u ard Cabinet. He ws-3 opposed to tho bare majority principle being applied to tho liquor question. Tile loss of revenue through" national prohibition would probably havo to bo borne by the workers. If he were I"V ! o Minister he would not spend £2,000,000 on another Dreadnought. He was opposed to the abolition of the totalisator, and" was opposed to tho compulsory clauses of tho defence scheme, sn,ve in regard to schoolbovs. He oonsidsrod that the difficult nature of tho country recently traversed by railways, and the increase in wages, did not account for the great increase in the cost of railway construction. He considered that trusts and combines formed to oppress the workers should be restricted. Ho denied that the.cooperative system of railway construction was cheaper than tho contract system. A vote of thanks was accorded th<4 speaker, amidst applause. THE EGMONT SEAT. HON T. MACKENZIE AT SLTHAM. [Pkr Press Association.] ELTHAM, October 31. The Hon T. Mackenzie addressed a large audience at the Town Hal] tonight, the Mayor presiding. Mr Mackenzie combated at length a statement about- his being a Southern reject, recounting his past political career. He referred to England for I examples of members not residing in j the electorates they represented. He | said that if elected he would soil his homo near Duncdin and come to reside in Egmont. Regarding the High Commisaionership, said that his appointment had never been considered by the Cabinet. He believed it better, for some years at any rate, to remain and help to build up the agricultural industry. He was reorganising the department and desired to extend it in certain channels. Replying to Mr Massey s address of the previous evening, he described the leader of the Opposition as tho Rip Van Winkle of their parliamentary institutions. The Home Protection Bill that Mr Massey spoke of had been embodied in the Statute Book sixteen years ago, but in clearer and more efficient form than Mr Massey proposed, and it was now the law of the land. Regarding statements that the loan was a failure, he contended that Opposition members and the Opposition did their best to make it so by doleful accounts sent to London, so that financial journals advised investors to charge a higher rate of interest. He explained that a large proportion pf the public debt was in-terest-earning. Sir Massey complained about the small amount spent on the purchase of estates, and Opposition newspapers urged that more money should have been available for various works. If all tho demands were acceded to the debt would have f been increased by four millions. Tho Opposition supported every loan. "Vi ere they to claim more than their share and then condemn tho Government for borrowing it P Borrowing conducted on proper lines was a wise and good thing. He combated the arguments about excessive taxation. Customs duties had been remitted on necessaries. Where duties had been put on it was for tho nurooso of the preferential tariff with Britain. The mcidenco of the income, land and other taxation had been arranged to place the burdens on those best able to bear thorn. The land tax was intended for a dual purpose, revenue and the breaking up of big estates. He dealt at length with tho land laws, expressing himself in favour of the optional tenure. No Government had done more for the settler than the present Government. It was necessary to'closely settle the country and build up agriculture. He pointed to events abroad, and the danger of foreign aggression, so that close settlement was needed in Australia and New Zealand. Ho emphatically stated that lie would not have exterior assistance in the election campaign. He wanted to be returned on his own merits and not wobble in on crutches lent by someone else. He wanted & fair fight between I the two candidates. There were great problems to bo considered which would need careful study. He referred to the possibility of the opening of Continental markets to New Zealand meat, tho strikes in England, and the Imperial Council which must como about, though Sir Joseph Ward brought down hifi proposals before their time. He complained about tho time wasted in considering scandals unearthed during the recess, which proved only mare's nests. They needed to build up public institutions and not drive men out of them. The 'Minister had an attentive hearing an« 3 replied to many questions relative to policy and administration. A vote of thanks was accorded.

BAND MUSIC. THE ASSOCIATION AND ANOTHER. CITY COUNCIL'S DELAY. Many people have criticised severely tho attitude of the City Council in delaying the completion of tho arrangements for the municipal band concerts, wti-eh has been caused by the differences of opinion as to what bands should he engaged for the work, and as the season is already far advanced it is thought that the Bands and Organ GortuniUeo should complete the preliminaries cn soon as possible. The trouble, •it is popularly supposed, and many bandsmen. make no secret of their opinions, runs ..hack to last secGcn, v. hen art utlempt was made to obtain higher remuneration from the City Conned for the concerts. The Council p.o'd to its original terms and declined to accede to the rec:i:w,t of the bands, ;;nd uitunatciy tho cop cert programmo was carried through by the Woolston avio fetarmiore Bands, urine h accepted tho Council's term:?, Shortly afterwards the .Bauds Association- came into exis+once, and during the mur..V'*,nl elections many candid a»es we.- f. ■ what iittitudo they would ncNnvt when tho question of baud concerts r, as before the Council. It is held by some people that the Woolston and Sttanmore Bnuds "wont back" on the other bands last year, and on tho other hand it is urged thpt there was no organisation established at. tho time and that th:* two hands acted within their rights. Many xtrfje, of course, that if the Woolston and Siimmore Bands did

"scab" oil any organisation then that organisation was formed for the purpose of obtaining more money than the mnncipality wns prepared to give. When the Asioeiation was formed the Stnnmoro Band was admitted but i!u> Weolston }!and v.'as not nifiliated, nor was the Salvation Army Band, and when tlio question of band music came before the Count''] it was decided that tenders should bo called from city bqnda, and the cuestion of recommending the bands to be ( engaged waa left to the Bands and Organ Committee, which selected tlia four bands affiliated

to the Association and the Salvation Army Band,, ruling the Woolston Band out on the ground that it was not a city band.

Speaking to- a reporter yesterday. Lieutenant Siddall, the bandmaster of the Woolston Band, said that ho was disappointed at the Council's attitude, but it would not make much difference to his band. He certainly considered that there had been an attempt to boycott the band, and as far as_ the statement that it was not a "city band" was concerned, ho wrnjld sav that fully half the members resided in the city. It had been said that the band had, lieen subsidised by the Woolston Borough Council, but that was entirely incorrect. Last season the Borough Council had engaged the band to play five concerto mid had paid for five. The engagements had been made for each concert and the transaction was in no way distinguished from any engagement by. a citizen. Another gentleman., interested in hand matters, said that undoubtedly there seemed to be an attempt to oust the Woolston 'Band, and it was a pity that the Council had taken any notice

of the_ squabblos of the bandsmen. Tliq Woolston Band was undoubtedly the best in the city, and the Council should realise that its primary duty was to gat value for tho money it expended, without any references to Bands Associations. The Woolston Band was a city band. It had always boen identified with the city and its claim as a city band had not been questioned until the trouble of last year. A part of the season already had been wasted by the Council in dealing with the petty differences of th© bands, and now tho committee had a free hand, although the position had been improved by the Mayor ruling that the term "city band" did not exclude the Woolston Band. It was to be hoped that the committee would take advantage of the piling and give to the city the best music it could.

If you do not have hunger as a sauce for your food, try Chamberlain's Tablets. 2 By using a microphone you can hear a fly walk.