LABOUR AND REFORM.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14463, 30 November 1914, Page 4

LABOUR AND REFORM.

Apropos the subject of three-cornered ’contests, the. following letter, from, the Auckland Star should interest AA’anganm electors: —Sir, —Is -it by forcing .three-, cornered fights that we can hope to wrest government from Massey rule? Is it not time. to~ stop suc’n idiotic procedure and withdraw Mr Wesley Richards from the field? Opposed to Mr Parr alone, Mr Tuck could win the seat. Opposed by a third party, Mr Parr cannot lose. Again, are all the bitter experiences of the past three years to be overborne and teach Labour no lesson? It is undeniable that among all tho unionists there is a general dissatisfaction—a bitter hatred of, and hostility to, Masseyism. AVhy, then, this blind perversity in giving the octopus another chance to further damn Labour? If there be a dispute over Liberalism among self-interested persons, is tho whole Labour movement, nay, the country itself, to suffer on their account? Surely not. The constituencies—especially Labour—feel by this time that Masseyism has unsettled everything and settled nothing. It would take ten . years of, reconstructive government to heal the breaches he has made, to re-establish what .he has unsettled, and ;6 remodel what he . lias disintegrated. Every day brings , out more clearly and more strongly the fact that Masseyism is x gross failure. Every week the consciousness that it has been a great mistake belomes more and more disseminated among the working classes. , Masseyism’ has rroken down too notoriously and too generally for it over to be again tolerated xs a governing power; I am, etc., “Bara Fostus.’ MR. VEITCH AND WANGANUI’S INTERESTS. The following is from the files of our contemporary February 27th, 1914, only i few months ago;—"Mr AV. A. Veitch, VLP., well deserved the applause which greeted him when, in the course of his peoch on AA’cdnesday evening, he referred ]o his efforts to secure the passage of the I arbour Board Empowering Bill. In this natter, and. in many others affect in" Wanganui, Mr Veitch has taken a .rea'l ive interest.” So that even “Reform” idraits that Mr Veitch has not neglected ns duty to his constituents. MR. PIRAN! BOWLED OUT. Jr Veitch has scored very heavily ,off Air ’irani ip connection with his quotations >f figures. In a letter to the “Herald,” Jr Veitclr bowled Mr Pirani over badly n connection with a certain vote on the accusing question. He wpund up by a ying “It is for Mr Pirani to explain to our readers whether he has failed to tnderstand the amendment, or is attemptng to bluff the public.” Mr Pirani at lastlecliff said that while he (Mr Piran) lid .not doubt Air Veitch’s statement, he ad not looked up the matter again in lansard, but it was not a question of great moment as to what the vpte was ipon. Fancy that! This a very nice ittle shuffle, and is no explanation of the itatoment made. It is as clear as posable that, Air Pirani did not know what he, was talking about when he made, the tatemeiit referred to by Mr Vpitcli. In-' ’eed the same trjay. he said of a great aany of the “Reform” candidate’s form utterances. :

RAILWAY GRADES. Certain railway grade easements have been mentioned in an endeavour to show that Mr Veitch has neglected Wanganui’s interests because, the Fordoll Hill was not included in those easements. Reference to the Railway Statement shows that the programme of . grade casements for this year is in connection with the Main Trunk Line cnly. Naturally the whole Dominion cannot be dealt with at once, but must bo taken part by part in succession. And so the stretch between Marton and Palmerston being on the Main Trunk, it is included,' while the Fordoll Hill, .being off the main Trunk, is not. This latter fact was not mentioned by Mr Hogan, and the inference which he asks the electors to draw is, therefore, an unfair cne, REFORM AND THE WORKERS. What the Tory Government 'nave not done for Labour:—The following is a resolution moved by Mr Veitch, M.P., at the last sitting of the Labour Bills Committee of Parliament, at the close of the session, 1914:—"That this Committee deplores the fact that very little important legislation has been brought before it, notwithstanding that the following questions urgently need to be dealt with: Comprehensive amendment of the Industrial Conciliation and Amendment Act, Contractors’ Lien Act, Shops and Offices Act, Hotels and Restaurants, Slums in the Cities, Victimisation of members of Trade Unions, Casual employment of labour. Health and safety of workers in mines and factories, Unemployment Insurance, Coat of Living, Monopoly of Financial Institutions, Transport Services, and the necessaries of life.’’ WANGANUI HARBOUR BILL. Mb Hogan took up a strange attitude in reference to the Harbour Bill, but his attempt to discredit Mr Veitch in the mat’.er simply qmounts to this: Mr Veitch put tin Harbour Bill through and got .£150,003; Mr Hogan failed to put the Ha.rb‘ur Bill through, and wot no money at all. That Mr Hogan’s difficulties were greater than Mr Veitch’s is very much open to question. Mr Veitch put in months of work on the Bill, and overcame difficulty a te'- difficulty successfully, and to hold up Mr Hogan’s failure against Mr Veitch’s success as,a proof that Wanganui has' “lost” by Mr Veitch’s representation is surely reducing argument to absurdity. There is this further consideration, too; That. Mr Hogan had a friendly Government to deal with when pushing Wanganui’s interests, while Mr Veitch had to deal with a Government that was not friendly to him. And so far from neglecting the interests of his constituency, Mr Veitch has worked for it, not only energetically, but with conspicuous success THE "RED FED" BOGEY. “Our opponents are moving heaven and earth in an attempt to create an impression that there is an alliance between the Liberal Party and those whom they term the ‘Red Feds,’ " said Sir Joseph Ward the other evening. “The people who want to know the truth about that matter have merely to look at.the electorates where Liberal candidates are being opposed by Labour candidates. You won’t find the Conservative newspapers saying one word in favour of the Liberal candidate or one word against the Labour men. Mr Massey and his friends are hoping that the ‘Red Feds’ are going to help them to beat the Liberals by letting Reform candidates win seats on minority votes. Mr Massey used the ‘Red Fed’ vote at the last election, and lie would like to use it, at this election. He telegraphed to ‘Fed Fed’ candidates in 19ii asking for their support for his party and offering them his support. The position of the Liberal Party is clear. We stand as the old Liberal Party, the party that held office in this country for twenty years. We make our appeal to the electors as Liberals. AVo are not bound to any oilier party, and we are not going to be influenced by any other party, in the direction either of re.action or revolution. AVe will govern this country constitutionally, as it was governed by Liberal Ministers in the past. We will not hand our responsibilities over to commissions or coramitees. AA 7 e will take full responsibility for the government of the country without fear or favour in the way that it should be governed. AA’c point out to the electors now that the people who are trying to use the ‘Rod Feds’ against us are the people who had an alliance with the ‘Red Feds’ three years ago, when it suited them to appeal for the support of the Labour vote." NAVAL DEFENCE. Apparently Mr Pirani cherishes the same idea as the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence, viz., that a couple if Bristol cruisers could protect the coasts of New Zealand from attack and at the same time guard the trade routes. But on Mr Massey’s own admission any danger that has threatened the coastal towns of New Zealand during the present war has been connected with the German armoured cruisers Scharnhoist and Gueisenau, and it is an undeniable fact that those two boats could face half a dozen cruisers of the Bristol class with every confidence of victory. The light cruisers ere never intended to fight armoured ships and it would be folly to ask them to do euch a thing. A Bristol cruiser could fire a broadside of about 0001b. Either the Scharnhorst or the Gnoiscnau could discharge 19501b of metal in one broadside, and, moreover, could strike with deadly effect at ranges at which the lighter guns of the smaller boat woidd bo useless. If the Reform candidates . are really serious in their talk about a local navy they ought to admit frankly that a naval force which did not include modern armoured ships would be of very little use to the Dominion in time of war, if we are to judge by the 'occurrences of the present war. Tire initial cost of a coupl'd of Scharnhorsts would be about £1,800,000, and the charges for personnel, maintenance, interest and depreciation would exceed ,£750,000 annually. These are plain facts that brook no argument.