THE COUNTRY PARTY

Waikato Independent, Volume XXXI, Issue 2782, 1 December 1931, Page 5

THE COUNTRY PARTY

jhi ZIMAN STATES ITS CASE. i CRITICISM OF COALITION. WANTS A BLANK CHEQUE. Charging the present and past Governments with foolish extravagance and characterising tlio Coalition of coming before;-the people without a policy and asking for a blank cheque, -yfr s. N. Ziman, the Country Party representative for the Waikato seat, came before the electors for the second occasion during the present campaign at the Cambridge Town Hall last, night when he was accordod an attentive hearing by an assemblage of about 3uo, the Mayor, Mr C. H. Priestley, presiding. With only one or two interruptions Mr Ziman gave a straight forward address and at the close was accorded a vote of thanks on the motion of Messrs F. H. Anderson and A. N. Macky. Hie motion was carried amid cheers for the candidate and a counter demonstration for his opponent. Some Misconceptions. Before dealing with the party's platijj/ka. the candidate said lie wished to clear away some misconceptions. It had been stated that Captain Lushworth voted consistently with Labour, but the figures that had appeared in the Press showed that lie voted fairly equally with all parties. It had since been said that Captain Rushwortli voted with Labour on the question of ccojiomies. Referring to the Finance Bill, when it was before the House, Mr Ziman said Captain Ruslnvorth had voted with Labour on an amendment dealing -with the parlous state of the Dominion. Concerning the “cuts” on civil servants' salaries the candidate said their 21 •jrosontative in the House considered it was only fair to make a heavier “cut” on the higher level salaries than flic lower. He was driven from amendment to amendment and voted for Labcur for the graduated cut iu civil servants' wages. While wages had been reduced the cost of living could not be expected to fall iu equal ratio until the Government attacked the primary causes. Damaging Driit, Dealing with. the present crisis Mr .'Ziman said there were two grave dangers, that of hasty legislation and damaging drift. People were deploring the but it had been going on for ten yeafs and the people were only now beginning to wake up. 7/auted a Blank Cheque. v; ' *'■ The candidate went on to criticise the Coalition and said the people were recognising that, unlike Britain it was not a national party as they wished it to be. The Coalition had come to the people and asked for a blunk cheque. It was asking for the people's blind confidence. The candidate did think tlia: Mr Dowuic Stewart had made an .effort to show the people the true condilion of the country. It was necessary to balance the country's budget but the first essential was to allow the people to balance their private budgets. (Applause).

They had heard special references made recently in the Town Hall to what .was characterised as the Christ-mas-box Budget, but beyond the three concessions extended to farmers the policy of the Government was really a negative one from au economic financial viewpoint.

Lack of Foresight. The candidate went on to charge the .Governments of the past with extravagance and lack of foresight. He did not intend to individualise because the faults were so many, except to refer to the swamping of the country with civil .servants. Dealing with depression Mr l said with a declining national it was imperative that the costs of production be brought down. On the lines of his previous addresses much stress was laid by Mr Zimau on . the vicious circle occasioned by the protective customs' taxation. He said the loaders of the two main parties would .tell electors that they realised the drag of protective duties, but they would .also tell electors privately they ciuld not take them off because of city inter'"“iCsstK and their voting power. The policy of (ho Countiy Party was a graduated one with the eventual wiping out altogether of protection. la the concluding portions of his address Mr Ziinan dealt at length with Ihc duties on wheat and said the people were paying £900,000 a year in extra charges for bread and only a very * small portion was going to the Dominion wheat-growers. .Referring to interest rates Mr Ziman '.said the Government had adopted the cowardly course of palming off their responsibilities on to others in the shape of the Mortgagors Relief Act. They had placed the onus on to Magis- • frates and others. The Country Party stood for an immediate consideration 5 of the rates of interest. After dealing with unemployment ■and emphasising that it was essential to deal with the root causes, such as

the removal of protective customs duties to bring down the cost of living, Mr Ziman concluded with an appeal for support for the Country Party. MR ZIMAN AT MORRINSVILLE. On Saturday night Mr S. N. Ziman addressed a meeting of about 400 at Morrinsville, the dcputy-Mayor, M'r McPherson presiding, and was extended an enthusiastic voto of thanks with cheers. MR LYE’S CAMPAIGN. SUPPORT AT MATANGI. Thcro was a very good attendance at the Matangi Hall last night to hear the Coalition candidate, Mr F. Lye, who was accorded a good hearing, Mr 11. Marychurch presiding. Mr Lye spoke on similar lines to his address at Cambridge on Friday night last, and at. the conclusion was accorded a vote of thanks and confidence, also appreciation for his services during the past three years. SUPPORT TOR COALITION. A meeting of electors representative of the Maungatautari, Horahora and Orcpunga districts was held in the Maungatautari Hall last night, Mr C. R. Dean presiding. A diseussio i took place on the position of vove-spl.fling in tht. Rotorua electorate. It was resolved to grant unanimous support and tlio influence of those present to the Coalition Government as the only salvation for the Dominion at this critical time. PINAL SHOTS. Final shots in the campaign for the Waikato seat will be fired to-night. Mr Lye will give his second address at Morrinsville and Mr Ziman will speak at. Waihou. WAIKATO ELECTORS NUMBER ENTITLED TO VOTE. There is a slight decrease in the number of electors entitled to vote in flic Hamilton electorate on Wednesday compared with that for the last election iu 1928. Waikato and Raglan however both have slight increases. The figures given below represent the nett numbers entitled to vote, i.e., after deducting names remove*! on account of death, transfers, changes of name by marriage, etc. Main - and supplementary rolls arc included: — Waikato. This Year. Last Election. 9,274 9,213 Hamilton. 12,201 12,228 Raglan. 9,458 5,914 ANALYSIS OF 1928 VOTES. 735,391 VALID VOTES RECORDED. It is interesting to recall that in the 192 S election the valid votes recorded in the 76 electorates totalled 735,39.1, and were apportioned as follows: — Reform 267,079 United 227,857 Labour 203,621 Independent 24,505 Country Party 11,990 .Sundries 339 Total ....' 735,391 How the 1928 Votes Went. Of the above number the successful and defeated candidates respectively polled 365,1.10 and 370,275 votes, the latter thus having a margin of 5159 votes —38 of the 76 seats being held by minority votes. Allowing for fluctuations owing to six European by-elec-tions which have taken place during the past three years, when Parliament closed a few days ago -the total votes polled by the 76 members was 360,502, whilst 369,564 votes were recorded for defeated candidates, a difference of 9062 in favour of the latter, the same number of scats being held by minority votes as at the general election. It would therefore appear that the 76 members had represented less than 50 per cent, of the electors. The postponement of the licensing poll will doubtless affect the percentage of votes polled to-morrow. THE MAORI POLL. BEING HELD TO-DAY. Tlio Maori elections are being held to day. The four sitting members who are again contesting the seats have been endorsed by the Coalition Government, two of them being Reform and two United supporters. The nominations are as follows, an asterisk denoting a member of the last Parliament. Northern Maori. Tau Hcnare* C(E) Hemi Whautere Witchira .... Paraire Karaka Paikoa Ra. Last Election: Tau Henare (R),

2531; Paraire Waiau (Ra.), 1651; Henare Kingi Waiau, 467; Tamako Maika (U) 245; Hone Hcke (IR), 225; Ripi Wi Hongi, 192; Louis Wellington Pa lore (I), 9. Majority for Henare, 880. Eastern Maori. Sir Apirana Ngata* C (U) Pita To Turuki Tamati Moko .. I Last Election: Sir Apirana Ngata, 4950; P. T. T. Moko (I), 1846; T. P. Stewart (L), 254. Majority for Ngata, 3104. Western Maori. Taite To Tomo* C (It) R. Whakarua '• • • I P. T. Eketone H. H. Piahana T. Takirihi (J. Douglas) .... U Last Election: ,Siv Maui Pomare (R), 4674; H. T. Ratana, 3075. Majority for Pomare, 1599. By-election, October 8, 1930, vacancy caused by death of Sir Maui Pomare: Taite Tc Toino (R), 3970; H. T. Ratana 3150; P. H. Jones, 902. Majority for To Tomo, 820. Southern Maori. Tuiti Makitanara* C (U) H. W. Katene I E. T. Tirikateno Ra. Last Election: Tuiti Makitanara (U) 199; E. T. Tirikateno (Ra.), 198; H. W. Uru (R), 163; J. C. T. Tikao (R), 107; P. H. MacDonald (L), 79; W. T. Pitama (I), 42; T. M. Eriliana, 33. Majority for Makitanara, 1.