OPPOSITION CAMPAIGN

Wanganui Chronicle, Issue 20039, 24 March 1914, Page 8

OPPOSITION CAMPAIGN

OPERATIONS IN THE AUCKLAND

DISTRICT.

TALK OF TREACHERY

(By Telegraph.) (Special to "Chronicle.")

AUCKLAND, Mar. 23

The Liberals are inaugurating a campaign in the Auckland district. Sir Joseph "Ward will arrive here on Wednesday, and will deliver a speech. He will then proceed to' Te Aroha, where he will make a reply to the recent speech delivered there by the Prime Minister. In the meantime, Messrs W. S. D. McDonald, J. O. Thomson, and G. "Watty, M.P.'s, have arrived, and have set "but on the -warpath in the north •of Auckland. They will be joined at the end of this week by Mir T. Seddon, M.P. Messrs McDonald, Thomson and - Witty proceeded to Helensville to-day. - An interesting and important feature of the "campaign is the promised "straight i speaking" by Mr McDonald with reier"enee to the action of those members of Parliament who crossed the floor of the ?_ House affer having been fleeted as -". , Liberals -■"We are told by our opponents," said Mr (McDonald to a reporter to-day, . ';tl%at tlis Liberal party is dead, '_ and that the present Government are really the Liberals. Nevertheless, the facts •' stand out very clearly that at the last election there were 42 representatives returned to support the Liberal parfefr ~'i .and progressive measures, as against

38 returned to support the present Governiment,' and" the reason of oar opponentsmow being in office is the treachery of some members oiF the >Lib^al party -.vwho *were returned by Liberal constituencies. We feel that there is sufficient political morality: left in these fconstituenjcies tiuat were betrayed to deal out political death to those who broke their pledges. It is my intention to do some plain speaking in these constituencies in order to show how the present political situation has been brought about." "I also want to explain our attitude in regard to the late industrial troubles/ said Mr McDonald, "and to the various measures which we, as an Opposition, combated during the last ses^ sion, and we also intend showing tlie Cple the retrograde legislation that been passed recently." Proceeding to explain the attitude of the party in relation to the late industrial troubles, Mr McDonald said that the Liberals from political motives had been accused of assisting the strikers. While ifc -was a well-known fact that the Liberals and the Labour party had worked sympathetically together for many years, when the strike occurred in Wellington the caucus of the party was called together, and they * decided at) that meeting to in no way 'embarrass the Government in the settlement of the dispute. "We never took any ao - tive part in any shape or form in hampering the settlement of the dispute," declared Mr. McDonald. "I was going to say in hampering the Government in settling the dispute, but it is a wellknown fact that as far as the Government is concerned it did very little to settle the strike. Sir Joseph Ward has been accused of making sympathetic speeches in regard to the strikers, but I would refer any person who wants to know the real facts of the "case to Sir Joseph Ward's speeches as published in Hansard, which clearly sets out his statements in regard to the matter. Although we did not interfere with the Government, we were confident at the same time that conciliatory methods could have been adopted which > would have largely prevented the present -condition of things. It is quite clear thai during the coming winter, owing to the preference clauses in the industrial agreements, there is going to be a considerable amount of hardship inflicted on the men who took part in ;

the strike. Owing to the metf>j(Js" adopted, in the so-called settle^gftt o f tie strike, there is every pro^p^t, that it is going to inflict very grv a^ hardship upon large numbers of prjopl e throughout the different centres jsTew Zealand."