MR. J. B. LAURENSON AT WOOLSTON.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14839, 3 December 1913, Page 10

MR. J. B. LAURENSON AT WOOLSTON.

Mr J. B. Laurenson, the candidate in tho Liberal interest for the Lyttelton seat, addressed a large meeting at the Woolston Oddfellows' Hall last night, receiving, on the whole, a good bearing.

Mr John Graham, Mayor of Woolston, occupied tho chair, and introduced the speaker. He appealed to the audience to give tho candidate an impartial and fair reception.

Mr Laurenson said that he felt glad and honoured to be allowed to stand for the Liberal Party and follow in the footsteps of his brother. He claimed to be a Liberal, and was proud to take his standard under the old banner of the Liberals. Nevertheless, he wished to make it clear that he did not rely in any way ou his connexion with their late member, but wished to be judged entirely on his own merits. Much has been said about his connexion with the Canterbury Em-» ployers' Association, and he felt that the-objects of that Association could not bo well-known, or they would not be subjected to so much misrepresentation. As a matter of fact, the Canterbury Employers' Association was an organisation formed not to better conditions for the one side only, but to foster better relations between employers and employees. (Cries of "Rot" and general uproar). Personally the was a strong believer in the rights of labour, and he claimed to have done something towards bettering the lot of at least one class of workers. He read a letter from Messrs J. Moore and J. O'Brien, members of the Boilermakers'

Union, in which they thanked him very sincerely for the part he had taken on behalf of the workers, in getting preference to unionists and other concessions inserted into the award in 1911. He treasured this letter, as he considered it was a testimonial that anyone ought to be proud of, and he hoped that what he had said would effectively dispose of all cavillings regarding his connexion with the Employers' Association, and show that he was not only sympathetic towards labour, but had shown his eympathy in a practical way. (Cries of "What about the special constables?" and ironical laughter). Coming down to politics, Mr Laureneon said ho advocated free education for all, from the primary school to the university. All the brains of the country were not in the wealthy homes, and by debarring the children of those who were in poorer circumstances from receiving higher education, they might be stunting the mental growth of a great statesman or reformer. (A voice: "Like Bill Massey!"—loud laughter.). He also believed that all books and stationery for all grades should be absolutely free, as the supplying of these necessaries was a great tax on the poorer people. He thought that there should be no further alienation of Crown lands, and he regretted very much indeed the action of the present Government in encouraging the sale of the few romaining lands belonging to the Crown. There was even yet too much land aggregation allowed, "and ho had heard of a farmer already owning 22,000 acres of freehold being allowed to lease a block of over 300,000 acres, or practically one-two-hundredth of the available land in the Dominion. Ho was a freeholder, but supported limitation of areas, and he was also in favour of a very stiff graduated land tax. It was no use quibbling whether a man held leasehold or freehold, as it all hinged upon the question of taxation, but he thought, nevertheless, that every man had a longing to own a little bit of land that he could really call his own.

Mr Laurenson occupied considerable time in expressing his opinion regarding tho fostering of New Zealand industries by the establishment of a protective tariff his remarks apply particularly to the engineering industry. He was in the engineering trade himself, which is a very highly-skilled industry. Over three years ago the heads of the ensineenng trades had a conference in Wellington, and arranged a list of articles that could be manufactured in the Dominion. They had asked that those articles should be protected by a duty on similar imported lines, so that a chance would bo iriven to manufacturers in the Dominion. The Government of the day was sympathetic as usual, but nothing had been done. In a country like New Zealand they must protect their industries, or they would do no good at all. He had carefully studied the questions of the tariff and Customs duties of no less than sixteen different countries—("What's the duty on nick handles?" Loud laughs and considerable disturbance). Germany led the world in the way in which her protective tariff was formulated, and tho result was that there had been an enormous increase in her trade. To give an example of how a country prospers under tho protection of her industries, Mr Laurenson read figures showing the great expansion of G-ermany'e trade under her protective tariff. The lack of such a tariff in New Zealand had done an enormous amount of harm to New Zealand industries. He claimed that if New Zealand was going to be any good she would havo to develop her industries.

Another subject touched upon by the speaker was the great deposits of iron ore at Parapara and at Taranaki. These were the most extraordinary deposits in the whole world, and if they could only be worked it would, be a great thing for the Dominion. Mr Laurenson detailed tho offers made by the British syndicate to work the deposits, which had been "turned down" by the Government, for the reason, he iirmly believed, : that' tho Government was afraid that if they got'the large number of workmen in the* Dominion that would be necessary to carry, out the development of the iron deposits, it would be a menace to the Government.

Referring to other planks in his platform, Mr Laurenson said he advocated pensions for widows and orphans, irrespective of all residential qualifications. • The pensions as they were were nobly meant, but they had not gone far enough. The residential clause in many cases put possible applicants to a. great deal of hardship. Be would say the day the husband died was the day when the widow should be eligible for her pension and bounty. Hβ advocated the Government taking over the ferry eervioe, and another of his points was that more and special inducements should be offered to young men to take up the forest lands, as they did not get enough encouragement now" by any means. The speaker said that he thought steps should be taken to etop the assisted immigration of unsuitable people, for a large number of people who were assisted now were entirely unsuitable. He was also against the importation of outsiders to fill important posts in the Dominion. If the educational system in New Zealand was as good as it was thought to be, surely they could turn out men as capable of filling responsible positions as other countries. Ho thought that it would be a good thing if a modification of the Swiss method of settling industrial disputes was put into force here. In Switzerland, before disputants came before the Court, they had a conference before a shrewd business man, not necessarily a lawyer, and as a matter of fact only 5 per cent, of cases ever went on to the lawyers, which, proved the efficacy of the system. Special pensions should be given to mothers whose families were over four in number, and he would be in favour of specially taxing men whose income was over £500 per annum and whose family was under two in number. He would also be in favour of setting up annual conferences of employers and employees, and would make it & rule that all the discussions should be published. Conferences had often been held in the engineering trade, and he put down the few disputes that had arisen to this cause. (Applause and dissent.) In reply to questions, the candidato said he took no part in forming the. new union in Lyitelton. He did not know if wages increased in Germany during the period of her prosperity, but unemployment did. He wa s in favour of compulsory arbitration as regarded the fixing of prices of rents, foodstuffs, and other goods. Hβ did not think the Federation of Labour should be put down and the Employers' Federation upheld. He explained the benefits that would accrue to users, say., of farm implements, by the imposition of a protective tariff. "Are you a member of the Citizens' [Defence Committee?"

"I have no intention whatever of answering that question," replied Uγ Laurenson, amid loud and continued uproar. ■ ■ ■

Continuing, he said he was certainly not in favour of having Judge Sim removed from the Arbitration Court He recognised that his platform and that of the Social Democrats had something in common,, but the Liberals were the older party, and he thought they should vote for him, not vice versa. He was emphatically a supporter of Labour. (Uproar.) He was not in favour of the bare majority on the prohibition question, but would go to the 55 per cent. He did not attend the initial meeting of the "bogus" Waterside Workers' Union and address the men. The party that had nominated mm had approved of his principles, but he had never explained'his platform to any representatives of it as be had exDiamed it that night. He would be in favour of nltering and amending the present Arbitration and Conciliation Act; there is no statute

so good tut it might be bettered. (Applause.) * "How are you the official Liberal candidate, when Mr Eadcliffo has a Utter from Sir Joseph Ward?" , "I didn't know Air Radelitfe had such a letter," said Mr Laurenson. "until 1 saw about it in the paper. I should rather like to see that letter," ■ The candidate then read his letter from Sir Joseph. Ward, stating that the Litter would be pleased to see Mr Laurenson in the place of his (§ ir Joseph's) lost friend. In reply to more questions, the speaker said he thought the present arrangements for exemption of income tax adequate. He believed the Federation of Labour had made an honourable attempt towards industrial peace, but why it was not accepted was a matter outside his jurisdiction. Hβ did not know that the late Mr I>anrenson's committee had asked Mr McCombs to stand for the Liberals. (A Voice; 'They didn't, that's not true.") With reference to the Defenco Act, ho said ho thought a country worth living in was worth fighting for. ,. He read a lengthy explanation of the eystem. of proportional representation, and pronounced against the country quota. He would not express an opinion as to whether the strikers should go back to work and join the new union. Ho considered the present trouble a strike, and not a lock-out. He would put i"o e J? ou sh tax on an estate worth £10.(MX) to break it up. Ho had not studied tho Social JVmocrat platform and constitution as he had" not had time.

<w reso '«tion was then moved: — 1 hat this meeting of electors of Woclston thank Mr for his address, bat have no confidence in anyone but a Socinl-Democrat candidate lor the constituency/ . An amendment of a lionrty vote of thanks and confidence was also Proposed but wns lost, and the motion cfl'r-ert by „ i., rs , o ma j or ifv. Telrßpwns from G. W. Forbes and T. K. Sidev were read, and the meeting terminated.