POLITICAL

Wanganui Chronicle, Issue 12856, 14 December 1912, Page 8

POLITICAL

MR. W. A. VEITOH AT THE OPERA

HOUSE.

Mx W. A. Veitch, M.P., .addressed tb Q electors at the Opera House iast evening. His Worship "the Mayor occupied the chair, and there was a. fair attendance. Mr Veitoh, who was warmly received, said there had never been so importanit a Piarliamentary session in the history of 'New Zealand as that which had just ended. That increased the responsibility of the members, ibut of particularly one who, like himself, was making Ms political debu/t. Great changes had taken place since the general election, and he thought those chauges would eventually be for the good of the country. Sir Joseph Ward's party had ibeen so long in .power that ther© had grown up a one-man Government, which 'was not good for any country. During the election, campaign Mr. Veitcsh giave an undertaking that he would vote against the Ward Government on- the occasion of. a no-confidence motion. That occasion owurred, and, as the result of his vote, the Ward Government vvaß now out of power. "There appears to 'be an idea in the minds of some electors," continued Mr Veitch, "that because I Bad pledged myself to vtote against the Ward Government on a non-confidence motion, I had also pledged myself to support the Massey Government. That is not the case. I- stated clearly that my object was-to Jbudld up a new and more democratic party than either of the other two. I have consistently recorded my vote with that object in view, andl for no other. I am more convinced* than ever of .the greait necessity of building tip a new jand more democratic party than we have had before." Mr Veitoh. went on to eay that 'between, the election and tihe oipening of Parliament he was appointed a member of the

COST OF LIVING COMMISSION. There could be no doubt—as the <Commissiion learned —that the cost of living has gone up greatly durdn>g the last <fe!w years, and, he was more convinced than ever of .the necessity for dirastic legislation to reguilate the cost of living. The financial momoplies in 'New Zealand exerted an immense strain on the people, apart from the question of land aggregation and commercial 'monopoly. It was stated a short time aigo, as an instance of the prosperity of the Dominian, that the Bank "of New Zealand ipiaid a dividend of 15 per cent. Who benefited, other than* the lucky shiarehiolders ? Who found the money to pay the 15 per cent, dividend?. There could be no doubt that there was a combination of banking institutions, 'and such a good understanding between financiers that a great tax wag levied on itihe-'peo-pie. When money was plentiful business men could get an overdraft easily, ]>ut when times were hard he found that his overdraft had to be reduced, promptlly, with the result that large profits wene made by, those wtho had ample means. ■ .>- ---; If it were lawful that a few financiers in any town: could decide how tEe money market was to be ma'nipuliated, the time had come- for drastic legislation to save the people. There had' ibeen1 much talk of a State Bank. He iwaa sure it would be far better for the people if all financial dealings could ,be requlated by laws, so thiat no man could get an advance unless he had th© toecessary security. A't the present time many a man wtho was in a sound position ooml<i not .get laccoramodation from the banks, because he was not on suffiS2 y terms with the instituTl^. T^V would be obviated !by the establishment of a State Baiuk. At the present feme the useful oeople of th«* Dominion were not protected as they should be. Many people said thiat the land ownirng class had possession of Bar* luamenft, as exemplified by the land legislation of last session. Well, Parliament migjEt or might not be useful but Jie could say this, "It ds a very dangerous place for the common people it they a.re not represented there as they should be." There was no douibt tnat commercial monopolies had a, greater hold in 'New Zealand, an proportion ™JH population, than .in any other part of the world. Inraga-rd to LAND, there was the same sort of monopoly Some years ago the Government • gave the settle™ such a fine present under the Lands for Settlement Act that those settlers now wished to retire. But they wanted -to get rid; of the irritating feaseflold conditwon. and the Government :hiad agreed to their cry for the freehold. According to the Government, that was going to make-the people more loyal industrious, and what not. Well; he couM only say that if a Britisher needed the gift of pnrjt of the people's land in order to make, him loyal, the price °f j«s loyalty was too big. When the righteousness of converting the State leasehold into the- freehold was being urged, Mr Veitch proposed that leaseholders of private Hand should have the right to the freehold. But he was met by the cry, "That would ibe confiscation." Why would it? If it were right in the case of Crown land, d't was, right in regard to private land. .-Referring to LABOUR MATTERS, Mr Veifcch said the Arbitration Court had failed because it did.not touch the key of tbe_ position. Time was when troubles existed between the workers and their imttnediialfce employer, buifc now it had been proved that the- employer was often being squeezed (by big

monopolies. A Board of Industrial Conciliation, with a professor of economics as president, was required. The Board should have power to caLl far papers, arid, if necessary, to investigate the private positon of the great financial organisations. The whole circuimstaiiiciGS should h& investigated, tin order that a proper award might be made. Reverting to the Cost of Living Commission, Mr Veitch denied the statement that the Commission had suppressed some of the evidence of the Merchants' Association. The Association had handed to the press written evidence- which was not given "before the Connmnssion, and consequently did .not appear in the speccal report. The smaller business man was .being pushed out by the large concerns, and the workers were no better off than they were 15 years ago.

MR. VErFOH AND THE GOVERN-

MENT,

Mr Veitch said he thought it was due to the electors to know his attitude towards the Massey Government. When the Government came into power (he was not discussinsr the means), ho said ht thought it a fair thing not to criticise, .but rather to wait until the Government's measures were introduced, when he would see whether he could honestly support them or not. That was still his attitude, and he thought it the proper attitude for a democrat to take up. He had taken exception, to the Public Service Bill and the iLand Bill, which were totally opposed to his principles. He thought a puiblic man should act on principle always". It was his opinion ftihat Mr Massey's {Land Bill was not in the interests of the people. It certainly was not for the benefit of the workers, and in many cases it dad not benefit the fanner—-who was a very different individual from the land holder. He dtid not th'irtfs it nvas "wrong for" a irimn to own a farm, but he was convinced <tfhat had no land ever been sold outfight, it would have been to the benefit of the countrv. There were two propoisals of the Massey Government with which h'e agreed, viz:, the purchase of land in advance of public works, and the utilisation of the proceeds to buy more lands. He would support those measures, bait at rmiet be clearly understood -Tiiat he was not a supporter of the Massey Government. "I am out .to build up a nlaw democratic party "Whicfh. will tackle <the greaifc problem of the cost of .living, reduce the wealth of tihose wiho are wealthy, and place, the burden of taxation vupon them." The selling of land under Mr .Massey's Act would push up the values of land and create^ a specially favoured land-owning class.

Coming to the question of - WORKERS' HOMES,., Mr Veitoh said there were several great weaknesses in the system. He knew many houses which would not stand up until the workers bad ceased ip'ayinjg tho 'Government. The Government Should supply from-the .Takahi sawmill totara timber for workers' homes at cost price or a little above cosifc. The amount of money advanced to workers was very small, viz., not more than- £3(30, and only on buildings, not the purchase of land. To be fair, he must say that the Government was rather tight for money, but he expected that tine conditions would1 he relaxed When the Finance Minister returned from England. The idea of (building workers homes in the country was not a good one, because the worker© would be at_ the mercy of few big squatters in the district. The only alternative would be for the worker to hare sufficient 'land to maintain himself and his family without going to an outside employer. LG.CAL MATTERS. Mr Veiitch said he was convinced tihat Wianganui's greatest present need was sS good harbour. He was sure it would be obtained, for Wamganui was greatly favoured by mature. The engineer's , predictions had been fully realised so far, and there was no reason to doiiibt thiat the predictions regardiing the oomrplete scheme would be realised. Mr Veitch regretted that the town and suburbs bad not undertaken the >resjponr sibility for the harbour loan. In the mnantiine, the work would have been developing, and the hostility of the country removed. He wia® sure Wan;.p>a:nui; would have a hanbour, land the neopife would-.not v-> down'.because of the difficulties in the way. Another great local necessity was the reading of the back country. The progress of "tine town ami detract had been retarded for minnv yenrs, owing to the want of ronA nnrl raihivu'. The Government n&d tin's? Tear made a good grant, viz., £6000 for +ho catnip]etion of the Pin-rapara road. That road wou'ld onen wo ia very large area .of ilarfd. Mr Vc'trh strongly urged tb« construction of the Wanganui-Ra.etihi railway. He'dep.r-ecmted itlhe jealousies of various parts of the country, and urged that all should 'work together ifoa* the common weal./- Ho commended the Oiam-. ber of Commerce for the work it b^ul. done, and apirpaled to all (the local bodies to hVlp'tKe Chamber. Mr Vietch regretted that subdivision of land in the Wangnnui district wias not taking place as it. should. On the other hand, ro-aggregaton was (going on. Mr Verteh spoke of his unsuccessful efforts to indiuce the Government to purchase and cut up the Marahou esitate, but sadd he yet hoped to bring this about. Speaking of the amendment to the Veterans' Pensions Act, Mr Veitch said he would never be satisfied until treasonable pension was given to every veteran, irrespective of his financial circumstances. He also thought a veteran's pension (Should pass on to his widow. So fiar as the Widows' 'Pensions Act was concerned, he would like to see it extended as far as funds would1 permit. LABOUR IN POLITICS. Speaking of Labour matters, Mr. Veitch spoke regretfuHy of the division of opinion among the workers. Tlio Federation of Labour did not believe in Parliamentary measures to bring about industrial improvement. He (Mr. Veitch) did not believe that industrial strikes were-of benefit to the workers —(hear, hear) —and, when president of the Railwaymen's Society, he ihud always used his influence against strikes. The wisdom of that was shown by the fact tha,t the railwiaymen had obtained increases in wages. That had not c°st the country one-tenth what would have been the cost of a strike. So far as the Warhi strike was concerned, he (had been accused of endangering the stability of the Government and ranging himself -against law and order. WBat nonsense! The facts were these: A petition came from Timaru asking for the release of the Waihi strikers. Parliament referred the petition to a select committee, which reported that it had no Recommendation to make—a most i unsatisfactory report. Mr Velton's opinion was that the comim/ittee should have reported that the petition be ref onred to the Government for consideration. If thiat had been done, it would have passed into the hands of the Government, who could have reconsidered the facts. Mr Veitch voted that the petition be referred back to the committee. It was right that the Government should bo asked by Parliament to consider the whole position and say it something should not foe dione to f s»ttlß tho matter. •Ho did not f think thio Government should shelve i » question because it was not pleasant. I L'ho Government took the vote a« boing aeainst them. Why they should do so. Mr \eiteh did not know TN CONIfXUfiTON.' . Mr, Veitch *»<l that New Zealand was npo to ibuild up n democratic prtrtv I and he would do his beat in that direis

tion. It was wrong to create class cansciousneas, but every endeavour should he made to benefit the community as a whole.

- QUESTIONS. In reply to questions^ Mr Veitch said that he did not receive three guineas a day while acting on the Cost of Living Commission (as a ma/bter of fact, the travelling allowance did not equal his expenses); that the re/port of the Commission would not 'he lost sight of, if he could help it. He considered 1 mi, 'religious teaching was a [necessity, arid that the child who was not brought up on sound religious pranoijples was not going to develop into the best possible citizen. There was a right or wrong place for everything, and he did not think a public school was the right place for r<sJigious teaching. If all people had one religion it would be all right, but anything that was likely to bring about dissension in the education system should ibe carefully avoided. After a vote of thanks and confidence in 'Mr Veitch had been carried iiuanimously, the meeting concludjed with the usual vote to the chair. s