THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1085, 25 March 1911, Page 6

THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.

MR. HERDMAN AT WANGANUfc LAND AND LABOUR. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL! "A SILLY SUPERFLUITY." . VIEWS ON DEFENCE QUESTION. (By .Telegraph— Spccial Correspondent.! ' Wanganul, March 2i: .Mr. A. L. Herdman, M.P. for Wellington North, delivered an address in the Opera House to-nigbt. A largo audience was present, and the speaker was giyen a cordial reception, and was : frequently' applauded. Tho Mayor of : Wanganui" presided.

"Fancy Weskits." Mr. Herdman, in his opening remarks, expressed pleasure at tho opportunity afforded him of speaking in Wanganui. Ho believed that .in the past ithe Opposition had not done enough iin getting face to faco with tho public, but had contented, themselves too much ; with limiting their remarks on public questions to their speeches in tho House. ! 'After humorous reference to Sam Weljler's opinion about "fancy weskits" i being due to differences of, opinions, ho • said he proposed to show that tho .Opposition's "weskit," though plainer in icolour; was more serviceable and lasting (than the Government garment. Tho ; country, from tho North Capo to the fßluff, was everywhere showing sign's of prosperity, but a' curious feature of \it was,that it was principally confined to the rural community. Tho Government was inclined to claim credit for .-this, but' Mr. Herdman thought tho ■increaso in production and the resultant /prosperity wero entirely due to good -prices ruling in oversea markets. . He ■pointed to tho millions of' acres of Native lauds which tho Government :'kept studiously locked up. The Nativo 'Minister was an amiable gentleman, but 'how many years of Opposition criticism and urging bad been required to move Shim in opening up Native lands? He (Mr. Herdman) admitted that the •Native Land Act was a good measure, ibut if the Nativo Minister and the Government had not been so torpid and .apathetic that measure would have been passed twenty years ago.

( Defence. < Dealing with defence and the necessity of New Zealand and Australia bestirring ithemselvcs in it, Mr. Herd man said {hundreds of thousands of pounds had' ibeen spent by tho Government in defence which competent military authorities said had been wasted... Colonels .Fox'and Ponton, and General BabingUon in turn attempted to improve our defences, but were burked by the Government at every.turn, and all their efforts defeated by the political influence wielded by the Government.' Lord Kitchenier lately furnished us with a scheme, i and it would be interesting to watch how General Godley would get on during the next three years. Ho would do good work if ho refused to bo interfered with-by Ministers; and if.the latter would only givo him a free hand they would have a hotter system, but the ruin- of the defence system in the past was the continual interference of , Ministers, and. he hoped that in tho carrying oufof Lord' Kitchener's scheme tho Government would- refrain from the old tactics.

Prison Reform. Mr. • Herdman warmly praised . :tho .Government's'.action in passing prison reform legislation, but .lie Was le'sa interested in the reform of "Bill Sykes" and his fellows than in tho reform of Ministers of the Crown.

Legislative Council. Referring to tho Legislative' Council, iho characterised it as ail extraordinary institution, neither .useful- orna■mentali and without an equal in any ■ country, not even excepting China. 'The lifo members of the Council' were admirable gentlemen,, but, the ; seyen,year membersappointed by, the Minisitry wero of a different type, the.bond- ; slaves of Ministers of the Crown. The iiesult of appointing these men for ; seven years only was to render the ;Council a silly superfluity. 'They were ino check on hasty legislation, becauso ;they did nothing but act at tho bidding iof tho Ministry- of tho day. The country would bo much better without an ,'TJppor House constituted as at ' present. Ho believed in" an . Upper House, but they wanted a reformed one to properly fulfil its functions of reviving legislation and acting as a check; In an Upper Hou'so of say thirty members, ho believed tho best system would be to .have ton members nominated by tho Government, and tho rest elocted by the local bodies of tho country.

Labour Mattors. Mr. Herdman then went on to speak 011 tho labour question, asking whether the workers ever considered what effect the Government's legislation was having upon tho industries of tho country. The more capital invested in industries tho more work would there be offering for tho workers, but during ■recent years the industrial life of tho :towns, in contrast with tho prosperity' of rural industries, was languishing. Men with capital would not invest here. iWo should not bo content with developing tho products of the soil, but should endeavour to build up a sound industrial system, but that would never be done while the Government continued to harass men of capital as it was doing. Tho eonsequenco was that men with money, instead of putting it into .industries, locked it up and wero content with a small rate of interest. All this .meant that there was less employment offering ' for the worker than thero ; should be. Tho capitalist was now afraid of the labour laws, the . Arbitration Court, strikes, and agitators, and the more this went on the worse things would get. Industries had already receded, and tho .position of our industries was getting worso every day. Ho believed in looking after every class of tho community, and benefiting no class at 'tho expense, of another; but our present labour legislation had set class against class. It had not prevented strikes, and, instead of employer and worker being on good terms, they were further apart than over. True, some industries had'flourished,' but they wero only the primary industries. Mr. Herdman then went on to show tho decrease in tho output of some of tho most important manufacturing industries, notably the iron, clothing, and boot trades. It would be natural to suppose, he said, that with the increase of population, these industries would increase, but tho actual position was that their output per head of population had grown steadily less in the last ten years. These facts should invite the serious consideration of thoughtful working men,'who, if they thought tho matter over, would realise that continual interference by legislation, the Arbitration Court, and agitators, with tho industrial lifo of. tho. country was inimical to tho workers' best interests. Among tho agencies, militating against tho employer of labour, Mr. Herdman instanced tho Shops and Offices Bill, especially that clause of it providing that whero thorc were two partners in a shop only one could bo registered as owner. This he characterised as tyranny, Regarding agitators, ihe

-sooner they were stamped out the better for■everybody. Need for Solf-Reliance. Japan and China, worn developing in extraordinary fashion,'and would some day bo bidding for the trado of tho mirld. The- only way we could guard against the commercial aggression of these countries was to make our workers self-reliant and strong, and to euro thorn of tho habit of loanhig on tho Government for every li'.tlo thing they wanted. He wanted to see every'man and woman in tho country entirely independent. England's position was due to tho fact that her people are taught to bo self-sacrificing, independent, antl enterprising, and if they got a Government who would teach that to tho people of .New Zealand, they would get a happier timo and healthier national life, and more prosperity. Inverting to tho agitator, Mr. Herdman instanced the violently expressed oninions of various Labour leaders in AusWMia/'iind-declared that it was only a matter of time when we would bo having agitators in New Zealand making similar remarks unless they wero stamped out. Ho wanted justice, and was opposed to legislation in the interest of any particular class. Our industrial legislation had been a failure, and the timo was now rino to givo it a comnlcto .overhauling, the State should seo that thy/ labourer worked under healthy and proper conditions, and should prevent- sweating. Tbore should bo a tribunal to settle disputes, but of a different nature to tho Arbitration Court. One member should bo a Supremo Court Judge, but other members should belong to trades concerned in tho dispute, instead of being; permanent officials dealing with all classes of disputes, as now. The Stato should also go into the question of devising a scheme for tho mitigation of unemployment, which ho believed could easily enough be done so far as it affected a man honestly desirous of work.

Finance. Dealing with finance, Mr. Herdman show*ed how expenditure had gone lip since Sir Joseph Ward became Prime Minister. In 1906, when Mr. Seddon died, the annual expenditure was £7,122,000, now it -was £8,990,000. "Where had tho extra money gone, and what had wo got for it? Sir Joseph Ward had declared that ho could save £250,000 a year without impairing the efficiency of tho Departments of State. This was nothing less than an admission by the Prime Minister of unjustifiable waste. When questions wore asked in the House regarding finance, Ministers refused all information and gave no valid reason for doing so.

The Land Problem. Had anyone ever discovered what the Government's land policy was? (Voices: "No.") He had rjsver discovered it either. It was neither leasehold nor freehold, and.it was hard to say what it was. The Government took care not to evplve any decided land policy. Sir Josepli Ward said the only way to settle the question of tenure was for both parties of tho House to agree on it; but he wanted tho 'Opposition to do the agreeing, _so that the Government could keep its seats.

"The Callous Eye of the Jockey." In conclusion, Mr. Herdman said the Government's worst sin was tho lowering of the standard of our national life by passing legislation to pleaso particular classes, and by using public monoys to keep themselves in power. The people had been tauglit to believe that if they wanted anything they must look to the Government. The Government regarded .the people of the. . country "with tho callous ■ rcyo - of. the jockey, always considering how they could bring each conflicting interest over, instead ot taking a firm stand of their own. Mr. Herdman denied that there was any resemblance between the Government and the Opposition, as was sonietimes asserted. There was'all the diffeience in the world, as great a difference as :that between the Jubilee Plunger and the sound, honest business man, as much differenco as between an incompetent ne'er-do-well and a strong, selfreliant man, who carved out a home for himself from tho bush unaided. If the Opposition were returned to power the lifo of the country would bo cleaner and Wholesomer, and tho affairs of the country would be so . administered that the leading feature 'of - tho national character would bo manliness, courage, and stnrdiness, and a high sense of national; duty. -. . ■. Mr Herdman was enthusiastically applauded, and was accorded a hearty vote of thanks, for his address, which appeared to make a great impression '.n his hearers. '