THE POLITICAL SITUATION

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 19033, 10 June 1924, Page 5

THE POLITICAL SITUATION

PRE-SESSIONAL ADDRESS MR. VEITCH AT THE OPERA HOUSE A political address was given by Mr W. A. Veitch, M.P., at the Opera House last evening. The Mayor, Mr Hope Gibbons, presided over a fairly large audience. In opening, Mr Veitch said that since he last addressed a local audience Wanganui had been raised to the status of a city, and there was reason to strive to make Wanganui even a larger centre. Wanganui had great possibilities, and the Harbour Board had reached a point with harbour development that could be regarded with every satisfaction. During the speaker’s term of office he had had a number of local Bills to handle. The position he took up was that the local bodies were responsible to the people, and it was not his duty to interfere unless he was satisfied that something unfair was being done. His duty was to stand by the local bodies. So far every local Bill he had handled had become law.

Proceeding, Mr Veitch said no matter had received so much criticism as the administration of the Railway Department. They had arrived at a point when public, opinion was pressing for reforms. He considered that the Department could be placed upon a satisfactory footing. He regarded the setting up of a commission as a confession of inability to put the department on a satisfactory basis. The Railway Department had had trouble with its staff. It had come from two sides. He could not exonerate the A.S.R.S. from blame, nor the Government. The Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants had adopted a policy the reverse of the policy when the speaker was chairman. If the A.S.R.S. had held that policy the present trouble would not have developed as it did. The trouble was that the A.S.R.S. had become a political organisation, and the leaders thought more of that than they did of their mates. As an ordinary trades union it would have had the respect of every member of Parliament. It was a waste of the goodwill of the public to attach to any poltical party. The best interests of the men would be served by getting back to the old methods. The A.S.R.S. had an annual revenue of £13,000, but when the strike started they only had £1 a day available for every man. The A.S.R.S. ran the Railway Review, and last year it cost just on £2OOO. In it they managed to give free space to advertise a pamphlet issued by Mr Holland, the Leader of the Labour Party. The Review should not be used at the expense of the railwaymen to assist any political party. Next, £lOOO had been invested in the MaoriJand Worker, money contributed from the railwaymen’s wages. It was bad tactics on the part of the executive of the organisation. He was strongly in support of the resolution that the local railwaymen passed on Sunday last. He agreed that the road to prosperity could never be found along the road of low wages and bad working conditions. It seemed to him in the recent strike that both sides wanted a row, and that the rank and file of the railwaymen had very little say in the matter. Last year the State’s contribution to the superannuation fund was £200,000, but the railwaymen received only £75,000 of it. The greatest charge on the fund came from the officers, not the rank and file. Superannuation funds could not go hand and hand with strikes, and one should be dropped. Ho advised the railwaymen to give up outside organisations and belief in strikes, and then they would have the goodwill of the public. New Zealand was rapidly becoming a manufacturing country. The railwaymen had an agreement that there should only be one apprentice to three tradesmen. If the number were not increased there would not be the trained artisans required, and tradesmen would have to be imported. The present position was an injustice to many young men, as all could not be sent to professions. He hoped the A.S.R.S. in the future would be persuaded to see that point.

Continuing, Mr Veitch said in 1921 the wages of railwaymen were increased in view of the increased cost of living. Since theri the wage of the labourer had been reduced by Is 8d a day. In 1906 the revenue of the Department was roughly two and a half million, and in 1921 it was eight and a quarter millions. The railway finance was not good, as there was a reduction in the cost of maintenance. When the war began the Department had a very high standard of safety, and relayed 100 miles of track a year. In 1909 there were 4544 men in the maintenance department, whereas in 1923 the number had been reduced to 3796. On the other hand, in that period the number increased in the traffic department from 3899 to over 5000. They could not go on cutting deeply into the margin of safety. Tn 1916 67| miles of track were relaid, and the highest amount since then was 48A miles last year. New Zealand was now 567 miles behind the margin of safety set. The Department needed more capital to reduce the grades, strengthen the bridges, increase the workshops, and to reduce freights. They needed a permanent board of arbitration tq settle disputes, and better opportunities for the men’s advancement. A practical view of the whole situation should be taken.

Proceeding, Air Veitch referred to propaganda ei/culated by the New Zealand Labour Party. He denied that a resolution was carried against him by a Napier audience, on the occasion of his recent visit there. The words of the motion were to the effect that the Liberal-Labour Party had voted with the Government on 131 occasions out of 219. All through the war period the speaker stood by the war policy of the National Government. The Labour Party had adopted a line of conduct that had astonished the people of New Zealand. The fight of the Labour Party was not being concentrated against the

Government, as it was largely directed against the Liberal Party. Some of the, amendments brought up in Parliament were solely for party purposes. The Labour Party talked about a party to follow the lines of Ballance and Seddon, but the two had Liberals and Labour working together. Mj Holland’s policy was to try and drive the Liberals into the Government’s ranks. Speaking in regard to industrial development, Mr Veitch said New Zealand had adopted a wrong policy of relying upon farming alone. There was wide scope in New Zealand for industries. By all means agriculture should be encouraged, but there should be a real, live policy of industrial development. Coal mining in New Zealand was languishing and huge quantities of coal were being impored. An enormous amount of electrical power was being developed, and manufacturing concerns would be necessary to absorb it. Continuing, Mr Veitch said that at Home Mr Thomas had urged that class warfare should be dropped. He could not remember any of the Labour Party in New Zealand saying a good word for the British Empire. The Maoriland Worker said that the breaking up of the Empire would be a blessing to the world, and when Lenin died the New Zealand Labour Party sent a telegram of sympathy to Russia. In the recent strike the Labour leaders at once appeared as strike leaders, Mr Holland had himself declared that he was prepared to carry the brand of revolutionary socialism. It would be a long time before the railwaymen forgave them for the trouble that they led them into. Every member of the New Zealand Labour Party was a declared Socialist. The moment the constitution was destroyed anarchy would prevail, as it did in Russia. It would be better to steadily improve the present system and build up. Personally he was going to stick for what they had. The moment that law and order went they would get what they did in Melbourne when the policemen went on strike. The thing was to get away from sensational and emotional ideals. New Zealand had the best constitution in the world, and they should pull together. They could not build by destructive methods. In conclusion, Mr Veitch said he had been criticised in regard to his vote on the Public Expenditure Adjustment Bill, and it was alleged that his action was not in the best interests of the low paid servants. He knew exactly how he had voted, and he was prepared 'to meet representatives from the local railway workshops and debate it. After having answered several questions, Mr Veitch was tendered a vote of Wianks and confidence, on the motion of Mr Jas. Aitken. The vote was declared carried after a show of hands.