ADDRESS IN REPLY

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18422, 1 July 1925, Page 9

ADDRESS IN REPLY

OPENING OF DEBATE. Juan**. **«• bzpoet.) WELLINGTON, June 30. ' Tn the House of Representatives toD McLcnnan movea the night, Mr *- »• , h feircum«tances which brought him rHr^to^oiinionandtoth. * . Tn this great work he could P i" -/his predecessor but T« Lv and it was the privilege $ cbought with hi*, to onIvour to emulate the great example deavour to e congratulated he had Bet them. He ""'B 5r Coates upon the fact that Mr £J£* mantle had fallen upon him f 0 wi well served by his youth, and fho people were looking to li.m to bC^, nfSLth of "war had laid wMeh fh%oiSS. He likewise .spoke Tkindy teC of their Excellencies iv Sarlcs and Lady Alice Fergusson, S l?Sng to the Dominion was a r&tafef-ost favourably viewed f the Deoplo Of the Dominion. He n iroSed to refer to the financial ih %£ of S Dominion. Our credit] aid careful administration SSSedta the revenue for last ,r Exceeding the expenditure by one 2? SSSer millions. The future f. nf the country still lay in its ffi£{Xto£. i* -as therefore P to cultivate scientific HI Ids oil Sanction. Tor this reason Z Wigtad'to see the great work done S The Government experimental farms which was further augmented by the SSJnent of Chairs of Agriculture ft thfUniversitiee, and the appointSent of skilled professors m agnculS science. Any assistance the Gov Sit could give primary producers tatS way of an increased number of iiteuotors, cheap fertilisers, or otherwise'would bo welcome. After an appreciative reference to the proposal to establish a superannuation fund for nurses, he said ho had been returned as a supporter of the pro- • SJt Government because that A<lnuiusSon was a guarantee of stability in Government. It stood for the freehold principle, which was. the basis of P 1 ?; Lssive society, which could not be said of any other form of tenure. Certainly it was suporior in establishing ecHlcts who would become the back; bone of. the country, to tko "usehold" tenure so fervently advocated by tho Labour Party, He favoured encouragement to secondary industries no that our own products might be used and our own people employed. What was being done in tho woollen industry could be done in other directions if Labour would give a fair return m work for the wages received, lherc should bo the utmost harmony between Capital and Labour, and ho advocated betterment of workers 7 conditions in the industrial world. There was no royal road to wealth. Nothing was aj-hieved without effort, and a happy combination of Capital and Labour was one thing necessary to tho industrial success of the Dominion. Beading and housing problems were next dealt with, both of which wero jirgent in the interests of tho developJwtjit of the couutry. New Zealand wis one of tho brightest gems of tho British Empire. It was mado so largely by tho efforts of the pioneers, inany of whom wero still living. Let • ug-caro for and cherish tho country tiioy had handed down to us. Jf wo were true.to our trust, all would be In seconding the motion, Mr B. P. Hudson, congratulated Mr McLcnnan on' MaiSpoceh, which was that of a. practlcaVtn&n,:and.as such he welcomed him to the Hpuse. Ho regarded as a happy nugiiry the.arrival in the Dominion of thjjr,Excellencies, and while everyone *<jgretted the circumstances in which Ut Coates found himself in the' position of-Prime Minister, they were all convinced they had been fortunate in get-ting-the right man to direct the Do minion through the intricate way it ha-1 yjt to tread in order to escape from the trfects of tho war consequence's. He ciflgratulated the Government on what tliey ;had done to reliove tho position tifihft returned soldiers. Ho reviewed ■■is9 ''circumstances undor which many soldiers had been put on tho land. Misuse's no doubt had been mado by both , !&$■ Government and tho soldiers, buL ag.'.honest effort was being made to these mistakes. He especially w'niinended tho efforts to give soldiers the. T ':benißflt of instructional advice, lie especially asked the Government to watch tho development of tobaccogrowing in the Dominion. This industry could bo successfully carried out if properly nurtured. Tho two things it required was an increaso of qualified - instructors and protection against the operations of big trusts and combines. , |le was in complete sympathy with the "•Wggestion to appoint more agricultural wstrnctprgy and with tho proposal to .'establish', a superannuation fund for Surses. Tho noblo work which these Women were doing in the backblocks ■wis Worthy of all praise and practical assistance. He hoped the Govoru- . nient would liberally subsidise theso aiovements, of which the Plunkct Society was one, because they were a means of saving a great deal of suffering, and possibly prevented many childron from .oecoming an ultimate chargo on the State. Ho was surprised to find no reference in the speech to tho subject of fdueation. The sehool system was enormously, thanks to tho increase in tho number of children, the .-; best class of immigrants we could have. •;« was, however, to be regretted that ;,»Jany:school buildings and teachers 5 reaidences were out of dato. In like fanner ho' regretted many teachers ~TO underpaid. Tho class'of teacher Weured for the schools was most imform the hands of the teachers «Btea tho future of the raeo not alone W the matter of mere book learning, . nut w morals and the foundations of character. ■ Scholarship alone was of T 5 Ue .' 1 ? tochers, if their morals t^m . principles were not all thev should • correspondence classes, were groatly to ?e looked forward 7 0 ■3 the r^ dCSt on the' part I)Jw G<J , in developing the Dommion's mineral wealth, but if addi ■2St lL?« W ? ment assis they ■"•■-£■»£s an increase in wages but ; quite a different thing that th\ :^^ s^ouldincreas ; t J^gth^t^h ; q:» tho consumers by "coin* «li»«°m wl »-Imperial trade. The Em- ' *Bf« t, W >? W] lv t u", •S?^2. ogai??t forei « u competition? |h« wa, a matter which the Govom t^ OU,d kee P stead % in view wltli - ■&?i&™*™rt' We had a country r ,jnth the best climate in the world. We ■ r MA mineral wealth, fertile lands, and '■->42 P^ eOa T* C « ed P°P ulatiol >- Let us A ii?ejMt so. If thero wero any who felt

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conditions were better elsewhere and who in consequenco sought to stir, up strife and disorder, lie would be in favour of paying their fares and shipping them oft' to thoso countries whicii, in rheir opinion, were more favoured than New Zealand. (Applause). On tho motion of Mr Sidey the debate was adjourned till 2.30 p.m. to-morrow, and the House rose at'U.lo p.m.