PREMIER'S MANIFESTO

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1304, 6 December 1911, Page 8

PREMIER'S MANIFESTO

"WHAT WE HAVE DONE." "OUR AIMS AND INTENTIONS." (By T<!lczraDli.-Prcj3 Association.) Invercargiil, December 5. The following''manifesto to the people of New Portland -line been issued by tho Premier:— Fellow Citizons.-On Thursday next the Government, of which I am tlio Leader, submits itself to tho tribune of public opinion, and asks for a verdict in its favour as to its claims and fitness to continue in your service. The Liberal Governments of New Zealand have always l)ec)i patriotic in tho truest sense, lhey have felt and expressed continued iaiUi in tho destinies of their country; (hey have never hesitated to trust tiio people. They have stood true to Liberal principles, and their aim has always been national progress, democratic enlightenment, and the fullest, possible extension m personal liberty consistent with the happiness and well-being of the people. i!uch were the ideals of the present Government when you entrusted it with the administration of your affairs three years ago, and to these ideals we have consistently and resolutely striven to be faithful. Ao humnu institution can claim perfection. The Government is not perfect, no Government, is, "but we have honestly endeavoured, to promoto tho wellbeing of the country and its people. It is for you to say now whether >ui dtfire a continuance of a. progressive au.l humanitarian Government fn this Dominion, or whether you wish to recall to power tho party who were in existence bofore the democratic awakening of Ih9l. lhis is the main issue, and I ask the electors of tho Dominion, beforo coming to \ decision on that issue, to stop end Riance at some of the outstanding features of the political history of New Zealand for the past twenty years, end to compare the condition of the country leforo 1891 with what we have accomplished since.

.The manifesto then goes on to refer to tho condition of the country heforo 1891, and to tho "vivifying wave of Liberalism which swept over Now Zealand in <<i? J ? ar; also to Ballance and Seddon, the forerunners of tho Liberal policy which has brought New Zealand to-its present high position among tho peoples of the world. . . . The Liberal Government has remained in ideals and principles essentially the same,- a Government working honestly and resolutely for the good of our country and for the happiness and well-being for tho great mass of the people."' Then follows a recital of what we have done," mentioning first tho graduated land tax.' It then goes on to state that they liavo introduced innumerable and far-reaching measures for the social betterment of-the people; broadened and humanised tho law with regard to the treatment of tho mentally afflicted; laboured incessantly in the direction of amending the law for the better protection of women and children; and for tho preservation of iiifaut life; consistently worked to place people on tho land; established a beneficent system of old age pensions; passed Acts placing education on a more liberal basis. The health of the community had received attention, and various measures had been passed, including public health and puro food measures. Apart from social legislation, no previous Government in Xevr Zealand had ever attempted to do for'the individual citizen what the Liberal Government had done and was doing. The Government had won from Parliament, in the face of protracted opposition, tho power to make advances to settlers, and shops and offices I legislation was passed. A system of conciliation and arbitration, which though not perfect had been of great service to both employers and emplovecs, was passed tor tho settlement of industrial disputes. These were only a few of the important reformatory measures which the Government had placed on the Statutebooks. The manifesto proceeds :-"We cannot bo always on tho crest of • the wave, but look round on,the other countries, mark what vicissitudes and oppressions they have passed through, famfiiariso yourselves with the fact! regarding the rich and resourceful United States of America and (hen decide whether I am not justified in my reiterated assertion that .New Zealand to-day is the pro" ■jperous country in the world. ; I , m in favoar .of borrowing within' rei sonable limits for lending to W<£ workers, and local public bodies ffi as it is done on ample security) for the purchase oi laud for'the people and for the furtherance of necessary railway and reproductive works. Injudicious borrow, ng I am as strong against as any man in tho country. Whether borrowW is judicious or not depends on th° object requirements, and other circumstance n SSLnI f h? wonderf » l Progress and dejelopment in every direction in the Do- . mm0n,..1 Bffirm that the loans that, wo ntcesSry MD b ° th judicious and t 7i^V r V u £- aims and intentions as to tho future? We have marked out our course, and we shall resolutely ndhcro to HiVJff lv k democracy directed to humanitarian ends. Wo shall maintain our policy of land settlement under winch 1,50,000 souls already have been placed upon the land; wo shall continue- to do everything in our power so as I? ?'■ nb , ut ?, lhe b,mlcn of so that it shall in no case fall hardly on Hie shoulders of the working majority of the people; we shall continue the conbtTUction of railways and the carrying-out of works in an order strictly related to tho greatest good of the »rentest number;: wo are extending the principles ot tlic old-ago pension scheme by mnkiii? provision for tho support of 'fatherless children; wo liavo in tun past dono much for and are. earnestly desirous of doing justico to our railway employees and all other branches of our public service;'wo propose to offer still further help to the settlers and tho farmer and worker by furnishing them with cheap money for developing their land and building'their own homos; we ■arc assisting widows witl children by providing them with pon sions and mothers by the. contribution o: .CG as a maternity foe; we arc eluwpciiiiif the telcplioiip service as w.o have alrradi cheapened thn railways, postal, and tele graphic-services;-wo are increasing tin postal facilities in remote districts; wi are- making provision for a plentiful sup ply oi chrap wate.r poivor, which mean: making our country a great mauufactur nig one, ensuring widely increased employment on a sane, secure ami scientiiii system; we arc providing a sinking funt for the repayment of tho whole o? oui existing and future loans. Oiir finance are ou a firm anil sound basis. "In conclusion I recognise that the greatest aim of overy democratic Goveminent is to give equality of opportunity to its people. It has been with (his aim that, all our great battles have been fouglit; it has been with this aim that nearly all our great legislative measures have been enrried; it was with this aim, for example, that we brought to the hands of the small settlers of New Zealand some twelve millions of capital at the lowest rate of interest, and llavc so helped no tewer than ,12,000 settlers; it is S• tlus nim tllat we uavo lot .£1,800,. 000 m a few years lo (HS7 workers. Conrast the opportunities thus givou with tho days when small farmers lind to pay s or 10 per cent and more for their money, with legal costs and procuration lees into tho bargain, and whe.ii working men were iinablo to borrow on almast any terms. ■ hhould ■the Liberal Oiovernim-n't continue to enjoy the confidence <i the c.iuens ot .New Zealand, thn a m? vi-ich Ciiided us in tho past shall ooutin-.ie to bo our aims in tho future. We cannot lorget that our opponents in the prosnit election, by wlinlcver name thev describe themselves, aro the snmo pnrlv who won. in iwwer. before us, and . who' liavo tried to stand in the way of projwss, and have persistently opposed the principal Liberal le?isiatioii providsd to hem-fit tho masses of the people, and now Hip law of the land. It you want a safe lest as to which side, Unservalivo or Liberal, is on the path ot progress, nslc yourselves this Wslion-Ui. hind which party stands tl,o great landholders? Land monopoly nnd progressive smaller settlement aro as far asunder as the Poles, and no man can m tnm . I , frlpn(l of tho principle of snialkr selllemcjit and tho inrreasi-d r«Kumplion of the <rr<>at estates for sotllcimyat who is supported by mid stands in pubic life as a champion of thn great anilcil interests. Finally, 1 ask my fel-Jow-citizens to-jiidgn us by clwnk' not words, to survey fairly and imparliallv what we have allompled, w l m t we have done, and on that test, not in premises of our onponents, lo deride for I heiiisolves whcllier the Government of thy country is to continue alone (he palh of progress and development, in- is to bo handed over, to the party of privilege ami reaction ' ■ ■

~ "JOSEpn georgk \y.\ rco; ,,, _ liivej-cargill,. stli Dcccuibtr, 1911."