THE PRIME MINISTER'S SPEECH.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 988, 1 December 1910, Page 6

THE PRIME MINISTER'S SPEECH.

A TOIIRENT OF ADJECTIVES. "SLANDERERS AND MAXIGNERS." The debate was resumed by Sir Joseph Ward yesterday afternoon. The Prime Minister began with a reference to his speech of 189G, which had been mentioned by Mr. Massey, and in which he had alluded to criticisms of deceased politicians.. It followed upon the time when ho resigned his seat in tho Ministry and in the House, and whon the Opposition of that.day had employed a lawyer to dog his steps and find out all about matters with which thc-y had nothing to do. The speech-reforred to was a bitter speech, but when ho recalled it now, he marvelled at its moderation. He had, however, never changed his opinion that the method of attacking a dead man was one of the most contemptible things that could be done. .'■ Mr. Allen and others: Hear, hear.

Sir Joseph Ward: I will say something presently to which tho member for Bruce will not say "Hear, hear." Tho party that was then in Opposition made a bitter, cowardly, secret, malicious attack on him through his business, and they provided money. and paid a man who did tho work for them, for tho pur- . pose of trying to ruin a political opponent; " ! :He had more, than bnco said that he regretted that portion of tho

speech in which he -referred to a man who had.passed.awav, anil whom ho had never attacked in his.lifetime, nor taken part in attacks upon him. "Secretly Inspired Abuse." . He (the Prime Minister) had been subjected during th© last fourteen'years'to | a great amount of malicious and very, very often 'secretly inspired abuse. He had' never raised this subject before, and no only did so now because it had been referred to by some of. the speakers who had preceded him in the discussion. Mr. l-'rnser: Only one. Sir Joseph AVard: Well, by one member. He regretted exceedingly that it had.become necessary to refer to his personal affairs. At the time in question ho' had been at the head of one of the largest businesses in the country, and it was the easiest thing in the world for people to put that business down, and jt was put down. It was the easiest thing in the world to ruin him personally, and he was ruined personally. He took the present opportunity of making some statements on the matter because ho had never had an opportunity of being heard in his own defence. That, privilege, which would have been afforded to the humblest person in the country, to a Chinaman even,, had been denied to him. It was said that the business had been carried on recklesslv, and yet, under liquidation, which was accompanied by a wholesale slaughter. ol tho stock-in-trade, it realised ,£85,3<15, a larger amount by far than any other business that had been liquidated in this country. Statements of reckless trading had been made in reference to an advance of £20(10 without security to a contractor for the building of a bridge. Tho liquidator thought it was a bad transaction and took proceedings accordingly, but everybody who knew the contractor knew that ho could pay, and ho did so before tho process was served on him. Sis thousand farmers,. small and large, did husiness with the Ward Association and not one of them filed his schedule or lost a shilling over it—a thing that was unprecedented in connection with any largo business that was brought down instanter.

Alleged "Valueless Assets." One of tho assets that was officially put pu record as valueless was bought back by himself, with the assistance of two or three friends, and in a short time he had netted ,£9200 on it, and he used the proceeds to pay some of the English and New Zealand creditors of the association. Within six months another asset fetched ,615,000 in cash, though it had previously been regarded as almost valueless. It now paid handsomely, but neither he nor any member of his family had since had any interest in it. What was known as his own norsonal estate, which was purchased bv him with the assistance of a few friends, after it had been declared to bo next door to valueless, was netting £1000 three-weeks after it came into his possession and was now netting .£OOOO. Side by side with the liquidation process, his ordinary business was carried on and was making moro in profits than would have paid all tho liabilities, losses, and debit's of the Ward Association at that time. One of the first things ho did in connection with that business was to see that tho whole of the creditors were paid 20s. in tho plauso)—and quickly too. It was done without difficulty, and he returned sums of money which had been voluntarily placed at his disposal by friends in different parts of the colony. He accepted no money from anybody. (Hear, hear.) The Colonial Bank. Some people had industriously circulated statements that he was responsible for certain things connected with tho Colonial Bank.- Ho was never a party to the sale of that bank to tho Bank of New Zealand. He was never a shareholder in tho Colonial Bank, and he never.received any-concession from it. On behalf of the Government at that time, ho (lid his best to sec that the National Bank acquired tho. Bank of New Zealand and that the general manager of the National Bank should becomo president of the Bank of New Zealand. Tho peonle who made the allegations about the Colonial Bank and himself were worse than slanderers. (Hear, hear.) He possessed a record of all the losses and writingsoff of tho Colonial Bank, as also of the Bank of New Zealand, and_ ho had obtained them fairly and legitimately. The losses of tho Colonial Bank, outside of anything concerning himself, Tan to half a million sterling, and those of the Bank of New Zealand to two millions. How did his slanderers stand in connection with those losses? Ho knew every one of them. Where were those slanderers now? An Interrupter Rebuked. Mr. ' Laurenson: In tho Opposition ranks. . Mr. Massey (rising): Mr. Speaker The Speaker: I must ask Mr. Laurenson to withdraw that Tcmark. It is improper to interject,' and ' tho words he used were improper. Sir Joseph Ward went on to refer to what ho described as a mysterious pamphlet circulated by ■ a Russian or Rumanian Nihilist, and stated that tho writer of part of this production was an Oppositionist whom ho could name, but who was not now in Parliament. Anybody who went down to Southland and spoke to the farmers with whom he had had business relations, or to the directors or secretary of the old Southland I'rozen Meat Company, would not find one who would say that he (Sir Joseph Ward) had ever, in all his life attempted to do a dishonest thing. (Applause.) The only people who imputed evil to him were hirelings, paid for the purpose, whenever had anything to' do with him, directly or indirectly. "In Connection with Oats." The suggestion had been more than once made that he was connected with what they called a swindle in connection with .oats, sold by the Ward Association. Ho had never been directly or indirectly connected with any swindle, either in that matter or auy other. Tho cost 'of tho liquidation of the "Ward Association was about .£IB,OOO, though, a leading firm offered to do it for £1000. He finally purchased the remaining debts of the association, for the sole purpose of gettiug the liquidator's books into his own hands. He had had them now for a considerable time. He found that within three months of the liquidator taking charge there came in considerably moro than the alleged shortage of sacks of grain. Ho had held for some time a letter from the manager of the bank at that time, informing him that he ought to havo stated before that tho warrants then held by tho bank were for grain "in storo and to arrive." That was a very . common procedure. The manager who was then in charge was one of the most honourable men in the country, and would not do auy . dishonourable thing. After the realisation of tho assets, his business was carried on very profitably, and ho had never done any business with the Government or any Government Department.

Rescuing the B.N.Z, Sir Joseph WaTd also referred to having taken an active part with the lato Mr. Seddon .in the legislation which prevented the Bank of New Zealand going down. Members of the Opposition at that time asked for a further examination of the business of the bank, and if that had been granted the country could not have como to the rescue of the bank and tho depositors in time, and tho bank would not have paid a shilling on' its notes. Tho statement that he was responsible for tho sale of the Colonial Bank', to the Bank of New Zealand was a most cowardly one. Out of all the peoplo who were carrying on business with the Colonial Bank, not one • was given less than two years to malco tho necessary adjustments, excepting himself and the business ho was connected with. They were given only three months, which those responsible must havo known was an impossible period to do it in. Ho had never in his life gone cap in hand to anybody in times of difficulty, nor asked anyone to lift a finger to help him. Not a man in Parliament could say that ho (the Premier) had gono to him and asked for tho least assistance in any personal matter. In connection with the banking affairs to which he had referred, he was kept in Wellington at a Banking Committee for the best part of three months (but nothing was proved against him), and was unable to see the people who were connected with his large business, and at tho end of the three months the business wont into liquidation. • "A Higher Hand." He had a paper showing the fate which had overtaken fourteen of the people who were most active against him at that time. He would not rnake : it public, but looking at what had haEwacd to

those people, he believed that a higher hand had been looking after those who, while professing to act tho part of impartial men, had been- doing a baso injustice. He had never tried to injuro any of them, but ho believed that a higher hand had taken care that at least a littlo of the troubles of this world should afflict them. He believed that his family and himself were better off than any one of them. Ho had .been connected with many leading men in different.parts of the world, and not one had withdrawn business from him. That was ono of the strongest answers that could be given to his slanderers and maligners.

Referring again to the "mysterious pamphlet," Sir Joseph Ward said that the man who had been circulating it, though professing to bo as poor as a church mouse and unablo to pay a' £5 fine that was inflicted on him, had travelled from end to end of the country, delivering the pamphlet free from door to door. It had an addendum suggesting that the people should tum him (Sir Joseph Ward) out at the next election. In "reply to an interjection by Mr. Massey, the Premier said, "I am not suggesting anything against you." Mr. Massey: To whom are you referring? To Mr. Black? Sir Joseph Ward: Yes; to Mr. Black himself.

Accusations Against Oppositionists. Ho .would liko to ask Mr. Allen if by any chance 'some person without means printed a letter about rnoinbers of bis family—supposing it happened to be his mother, dead and gone, his wife, alive, or father, dead and gone, and by the merest chance it came into his (Sir Joseph Ward's) hands, and he carried it about, produced it in ' trains, and gave it' to people to read—what would Mr. Allen think of him? He would look upon him as a blackguard and a skunk. Ho would deserve it. He would ask Mr. Allen if ho had not don© that? He could not deny it. He would ask Mr. Herries what ho would think of him if his (Mr. Horries's) mother were written about, and ho (Sir Joseph Ward) handed copies of it to anyone else? Mr. Herries would say he. was a skunk and a cur. The remark would bo well deserved. He would ask Mr. Massey if his (the Prime Minister's) organiser carried a pamphlet from which the pamphlet in question had been compiled through this country prior to an election, what would he (Mr. Massey) think of him allowing it to be done? He would, use the strongest terms he. could find in the language: Mr. Massey knows his organiser (Mr. Martin) carried it round. Mr. Massey: I will tell you all About it. The Prime Minister went on to say that he recognised that he was put down fourteen years ago. It was also true that he had done a lot to help others. Ho told the House at the time that they" had not heard the last of him. Object of His Assailants.Since then he had successfully contested five Parliamentary elections. Then again he had won every other election which ho had contested. It was perfectly true that he had started life'as a boy, earning 10s.. a week, and ho. was not ashamed of it. (Hear, hears.) It was also true that as tho result, of hard work ho had attained the highest position in tho country. He regretted the personal way he had been attacked during his term of office. These attacks were meant to also bring about the destruction of tho party of which ho was tho head. Ho was probably better informed of what was going on in different portions of this country than any other man in it. He knew who prepared the greater portion of the pamphlet. Mr. Massey. You ought to name them. Sir Joseph Ward said ho knew the name of the woman who prepared a portion of tho second pamphlet and he wanted to say that ho held in his possession a letter written from tho same quarter that a number had come from during the last eight months in the north of New Zealand telling him what was to be dono to him. Among other things a large number of these pamphlets were to bo sent to London to bo distributed there. He held letters from numbers of leading men of London saying that these packets wero posted wholesale. The writers wero not only disgusted with it, but offered to do anything in their power to show their hatred of an unBritish action. He also held letters from people in Australia, which spolco of wholesale, parcels having been distributed there, with the object of discrediting him (Sir Joseph Ward) and in discrediting him to besmirch tho fair name and fame of. the men and women who were tho possessors of New Zealand. Ho - took that opportunity of giving the suggestion that ho _ was hankering after the , High Commissionership or any other position outside of New Zealand an unqualified denial. ' Had ho been disposed, to do so one thing would have determined him to go over New Zealand and meet the people in tho highways and byways and cities and towns prior to tho next election, where this filthy pamphlet had been circulated, with tho idea of injuring him. (Loud hear, hears.) In doing it thero had even been introduced the name of his dead mother and the name of his wife. He knew of nothing more despicable, and if he found any of his opponents wero being attacked in such a manner he would have done anything ho could to stop it. • .

As the Prime Minister's, time was up the Hon. T. Y. Duncan asked that it should be extended for fifteen minutes, and the House agreed.

Proceeding, the Prime Minister said that when tho first copy of the pamohlct came to bim in the same hand-writing that gavo him advico from time to time, ho handed it to his ■ lasvyers for advice. It was an extraordinary thing to-day that no man in his position could legally do anything to protect himself under- circumstances of the kind. •

When tho Prime Minister resumed his seat a number of members of his party, led by the Hon. Mr. Duncan, rose and gave him +hrco cheers.