POLITICAL ADDRESS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1002, 17 December 1910, Page 6

POLITICAL ADDRESS.

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MR. R- A, WRIGHT AT NEWTOWN. REVIEW OF RECENT LEGISLATION. GOVERNMENT'S LACK OF BACKBONE.

Mr.- R. A. Wright, M.P. for Wellington South, addressed his constituents at NewtoVn last night. In introducing tho speaker Mr. W. A. Thomson, the chairman, said that he felt all would agree that. Mr. Wright had, during the time ho had been in Parliament, earned the admiration of his constituents for th ofair, fearless, and straightforward manner in which he had' performed his duties.

Mr. Wright, who had a very cordial reception, dealt with -quite a number of subjects in tho courso of his address. First of all ho claimed t-liat he did quite right in voting against the postponement of Parliament last year to enable the. Prime Minister to visit tho Old Country. As regards tho Public Dobt. Extinction Act, ho declared that upon tho surface the measure looked all right. He did not oppose tho Bill, hut ho did not think that it would.have the beneficial effects which its author anticipated. Tlio Government intended to take tho 'sinking funds in regard to tho loans for local bodies and other •moneys to form a'fund to. pay off the public indebtedness in 75 years. If these funds had been left undisturbed, the loans to which they referred would havo been paid oft in 33 years. The scheme was simply a transfer of funds from one place to another. He did not believe that tlioro could be a proper loan redemption scheme so long as tho Dominion went on. borrowing. It was his opinion that some day if a Treasur-i er got hard up lie would find some way of seizing these funds.

The Defeiico System. Touching upon the Defence Act Mr. Wright said that, he was not prepared to go the length of saying that every young man between 18 years and 25 years should come under : the compulsory section. There was, he felt, no martial spirit in New Zealand. He did not want to see too much . gold laco in New Zealand; all. that was needed was a citizen soldiery sufficiently largo in numbers to defend the country. With regard to the Land Settlement Finance Act, he declared that ho thought it was a step in the right direction. It was his opinion that it would lead to more settlement. Ho next dealt \vith the Aid to Water Power Act. The wholesome criticism which was levelled against the proposals had, he felt, done good. Ho could not see that it would be - wise to undertake more than one schemo at first. If a number of schemes wero taken in hand, it might be that none of them would bo a success.. There had been too much optimism in regard to the proposals; he hoped it was all right. If one scheme proved profitable, - the Government could go on with other schemes. Mr. Wright also had something to say in regard to the Crown Suits Act. Ho. referred at length to tho Barton case, and the case of the Farmers' - Distributing Company. _ The amendment' which had boen made in the Act last session was,, ho thought, quite proper:

Ths Licensing Changes. Referring to -the-Licensing - Amendment "Act, he dealt with the radical alterations which had been made, in fhe .law. .Whether the National issue would bo a good thing for the , Temperance people remained to he seen. ' It.would meet the caso 1 of numbers of people who -had always said that' they, could not vote for prohibition as regards one district-0n1y.., .The proposed abolition of the barmaids was commendable. Other important reforms were universal ten o'clock ..closing, and the abolition of bottle, licenses. Dealing with the National Provident Fund proposals, Mr. Wright said ,he thought the scheme would be generally approved. Ho regretted that the Prime Minister would not agree'.to make the maximum income £208' instead of '£200. Tho benefits pH>- ; posed under the Aot were, in his opinion, on.a very liberal scale. He thought that the. maternity: benefit was a good thing. To enjoy all the benefits would not necessitate heavy .contributions because the State was lending.its aid.. If Parliament did nothing else last session,- in passing this Act if- .put on the Statute-book one of tho finest measures in the world. (Applause.) The .Workers' Dwellings Act next engaged Mr. Wright's attention. He did not think that the required deposit of £10 was too large. The scheme would be certain to attract the notico of large numbers of people. Under the Gaming Act he did not think that the bookmaker was entirely annihilated. Still,- the "welsher" would not have much scope in future.

The Hine Inquiry. As regards the Hino inquiry, Mr. Wright "said that' the committee, which contained a- majority of' Ministerialists, had reported that seven out of the ten charges which Mr. Hine laid had b«m proved. (Applause.)' By no means could it.be said that the committee was biased, in favour of Mr. Hine. He did not wish to say that- the committee was not fair. Mr.' Hino had to his credit, the fact that the committee had recommended tho passing of legislation to prevent a member of Parliament from-taking part in negotiations for tho salo.of properties to tho Crown. Everything in such cases , might bo quite above-board; but it was hard to make everybody believe it. Tho best thing was for members of ParTfament not to engage in auch negotiations,' even if they were land agents by profession. Mr. .Wright then mentioned the ay in which taxation had been increase!! recently. Altogether the increased amount ran into £448,000. When the items for which the Prime Minister said tho money was needed wero added together, they totalled only £330,000. It was his opinion that tho • Prime Minister wanted to show a'large surplus next year, because it would be all election year. . In his opinion those electorates which the Government felt might return Liberal candidates would be better treated next year.

Record Borrowings. _ Concurrently -with the increased taxation there had been increased borrowing. The amount borrowed this year was £0,800,000, which was a record for one year for any country of one million inhabitants. . He -went on to refer to the fact that the Government seemed to have no clear defined policy beforo them,'. If a Bill, did not meet with any great amount, of approval the would alter it after it was brought down. An instanco . was the Licensing Amendment. Act last session. There was the same.lack of political backbone on the part of the Prime Minister in connection with the I-line charges. Another instance where the Government had shown lack of decision Was in regard to Auckland Government House. All that was necessary was to bring sufficient pressure and tho Government would back down. Was that not also the case with reference to the bookmakers and tho Lawrence-RoxburKh railway? It would have been'noticed also that the Government had been defeated oil various matters. He' had . himself been successful against the Government in connection with its proposal that liquor should bo allowed into canteens if tho officer, commanding ; approved. It was a. pity that the Government should ask members : to reverse jtiuu't .votes when thoy; did not .want to

accept the decision of the House. Ho believed thai there were members of the Opposition who were well fitted to take over the control of the affairs of the Dominion.

Change of Government Desirablo,

It was regrettable that the young people of New Zealand had not known a change of Government. The Opposition could take over the reins of office with credit to themselves and credit to the country. As regards tho present Government, with the exception of the Prime Minister and Sir. Carroll, the other members were One of the new Ministers had come out ot the Opposition camp, and lie was behoved to bo administering his Department well. With referenco to . local matters, ho had done all lie could in the interests of his district. (Loud applause.)

Asked whether it was not a fact that the Government and the Opposition had similar policies, Mr. Wright said that, politically, there was not a great deal of diflercnco between the parties. The Government had no clear ideas on the point; the Opposition had ideas which they could develop. The Government, seemed always to pursue an opportunist policy. lie believed, however, that the Opposition would be more careful and moro economical, and would prove better administrators. To another questioner, Mr. Wright said that not much of. the increased taxation would fall directly on the workers. Some of the other taxation might be passed on to the workers. He that this was the case as a rule. " o his mind; the taxation had. been placed on the shoulders of those best able to bear it.

"Hmv much further should the Government interfere with private enterprise ?" was the text of another question. Mr. AVright replied that he did not think the Government should unduly interfere in the matter. There were, however, some Departments which the State could best control. He did not think they should dabble in any matter where they would make a loss. Vote of Thanks and Confidence. Mr. "Ward moved a vote of thanks and confidence in Mr. "Wright. He said Mr. Wright had always acted in the interests of the country. ' ' The motion was. seconded .by Mr. J. Campbell, and carried unanimously. .The usual vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the meeting.