IDELEGATES ENTERTAINED.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1510, 5 August 1912, Page 6

IDELEGATES ENTERTAINED.

A SUCCESSFUL GATHERING, sPEEcnns bx ministers. The Sydney Street Schoolroom was crowded "on Saturday evening, when local members of the- Political Reform League, entertained visiting delegates, Ministers, and members of Parliament. The guests included the Prime -Minister (the Hon. W. P. Massey), -Mrs. Mnssey and her daughter* (Mrs. Taylor), and Miss Mussey, Mrs. A. IC. Newman (president; of tliu Women's" branch of the.Political' Reform League) and most of thu -Ministc-rs nnd 'members-of the Reform parly, many of whoiii wore- accompanied by their wives. All the speakers luul a. splendid reception,iniiny of them being greeted with cheers and a musical ovation. A Red Letter Day. Mr. C. 13. Morison (chnirman of tho men's branch of tho WvllingUSu Political Reform League) presided, and made a brief introductory speech. That day, he said, would be a red letter day not only in the. history of tho Reform Party, but in the history of New Zealand. Everyone- present at tho conference that morning had realised how deep'the movement was, from end to end of this country, and it had not only put Mr. Massey into power, but was going to keep him there. (Hear, hear, and applause.) That evening's entertainment was an outcome of the efforts of tho ladies of Wellington. (Hear, hear.) On behalf of the Sinn's Branch of the League, he had to thank the ladies of Wellington for winning tho Wellington election. (Hear, hear, and loud applause.) It hnd been said when women's.suffrage was granted'that women vcm CoiiFcrvativp. Long- might they conserve the Reform Party in power. (Applause.) They need not talk about the past. What they had to look to was the future. .. It seemed to him that the future danger they had to meet was some form of Socialism not based upon any lessons of history, but upon imagination and flimsy theories. The bulk of these theories, reminded him of tho man whose chimney wanted sweeping, and so lie burned down tho house. That was the relation that Socialist theory hnd to true political methods. (Loud applause.) ■, THE PRIME MINISTER. SOMETHING ABOUT ORGANISATION. Enthusiastic applause aiid cheering greeted the Prime Minister, who said 'hat he was delighted to meet so many fricnels and supporters of the Reform Party, of which he had the honour to be the leader. There was no need for him to describe the delight which he had felt at the sight of the huge representative gathering which had assembled that morning from every part of Key.- Zealand, with a definite purposeof formulating a plan of campaign,, a scheme-, of 'organisation which would .apply-'to every electorate'/its. intention being'to return, a majority cf members, pledged t.ho principles of the Itei'orm Party, and pledged to,give effect to those,principles... (Applause.)- In the. past, w:hen elections eamo along, the. party had. generally, had any amount of enthusiasnvjitst .a little'in the way of organisation, and less in the way-of funds. Ho believed that in the future th<> party would have all three factors, but if anyone of them had to bo done without, he would ho satisfied with enthusiasm and organisation. "Just lately. thero' has been a lot of ■whining about misrepresentation," . continued Mr. Massey. "It does not seem to occur to some.-of. tho peoplo outside our party that, we -have suffered from misrepresentation,, and suffered very seriously." Mr. Mas-sey explained that o. favourite misrepresentation which liad been thrown at the party was that it was composed of wealthy men, that it was allied with the large land-owners, and that it>- members actually were the large laudowners. When looking at tho delegates grouped for a photograph tliat morning, ho could not help noticing tho conspicuous absence of capitalists and largo landowners. Ho was not finding fault with those classes, for everyone would be glad if they had the opportunity to hecomo such 05 they were. (Laughter and applause.) Composition of the Party. The 'representatives of the party's supporters formed just an average set of citizens, sturdy, broad-minded, level-headed men and women, such as would lie found in any part of New Zealand. That they were patriotic citizens was proved by the fact that they had travelled from north and from south to attend such a conference, and that they were progressive was proved by their support of the'Keform party's platform, which was the most progressive ever placed before the peopli: of 'New Zealand by any political party. (Applause.) It was a platform intended v encourage industry and enterprise, and which would have, the effect of making the conditions of life easier nnd Hi chances of happiness more easily obtainable. (Applause.) The Work of the Women. Mr. Massey went on to refer to the splendid work done by the women of New Zealand in connection with the last election. The women in other parts of Now Zealand had taken their lead from the ladies of Wellington. It was largely mv ing to their efl'orts that such a change had been brought about. Tho change was sr.ch that -when sometimes ho now saw in the newspapers headlines in capital letters referring to tho Opposition, ho began to womltT what his party had been doing, till ho reniembereel that his party was no longer the Opposition party. (Laughter.) Similarly, when ho saw licadlincs about tils Government it took him n second or two to realise 'that tho newspapers wero reirring to his party. (Laughter.) He did not want to crow, over tho defeated party, nor to boast of what had taken place, but he could not help telling them what a gentleman who had been watching the proceedings in Parliament during the last few elays, had remarked. He said tho present Opposition r?miiul«l him of a drum and fife band—everyone from tho boy who played the tin whistle to the man 'who beat the big drum wanted to be the boss. (Laughter.) He (Mr. Massey) thought Hiat just about described the position. (Applause.) He need not tell them of the intense joy that was felt all over New Zealand when tha result of the recent division was announced. That was made evident by'the many thousands of telegrams and letters of congratulation that had reached his colleagues and himself from every part of New Zealand. He knew that a great eleal was expected of tho Iteforai party—perhaps too much—and he hoped they would bo able to live up to expectations and to give effect, even to onehalf of what was expected of them. If they failed it would not bo their fault. Tho word fail was not retained in the dictionary of the Bcform party. (Hear, hear, and npplau;p.) At all events, when they came to leave the stage, they would bo able to say they had done their best to leave tho country belter than they had found it. (Loud applause) At the conclusion of his speech Mr. Massey iva.s handed a beautiful bouquet for Mrs. Massey (who. with "her daughters, Mrs. Taylor and Miss Massey, was on the nlatl'orin) amidst another burst of applause which developed into loud cheering. MR. A. HARRIS; M.P. AN UNEXAMPLED CONFERENCE. Mr. A. Harris (Waitemata) said that ho felt particularly honoured at having the privilege extended to him of speaking at this great and representative gathering on behalf of the North Island members of the Reform party in Parliament. He lpoked upon this occasion as an epochmaking one in the historv of the political life of New Zealand. He believed that he was right in saying that never before had a political gathering of such magnitude aud importance been held in this Dominion. VThyn they looked back upon the political crisis which had.jnst taken place. they must feel particularly pratijleil that they had suck a representative gathering as had assembled at the conference that day.. What hnd struck him in lookhiar round the coiuVrnnto room was that the men and women present were buoyed up willi nn inleiiiu enthusiasm fnr the interest* of (ho party. (Ap\iluv,-a.l They bore the look of an nvniy that had been lons in tho firing lino, nnd theii intense enthusiasm augured well for tin future- of the party. He ninjt reiterate what Ihe Prime Minister had said about Ihe lodie? of "VVolliiigVoii. Wellington v»; pai'tirulnriy fortunate iu hiHwj tho< sturdy, baud of. eatlimaitjj the member*

of lhr> Ladies' Political Reform League, to work in tho interests'of the party. Ifo uuly wished that every, electorate in the. Dominion'hail a similar band of enthusiasts. Ilia own success at the Into (.•lection was in luryo measure due to tlio ef--1 forts of u hnrd-workhii; coinniiftpo of ladies. The Rise of the Party. Briefly reviewing the recent historv of the Reform party. Mr. Harris recalled that in 1005 it faced tho. polls with only JS or U candidates, who had been iu the previous Parliament. Members of tho party felt that: they had right on. their side, and evidently the people of MewZealand took the same view, for they retained the party ili strong. Three years later the party felt that the day of emancipation was at hand, and that the tirno was ripe for a change of Administration in this country. In the event, thirlyoight good men anil true were returned, who wero intensely loyal to their chief, and intensely enthusiastic in the cause of Reform. The party had now come to bo dominant in polities, and he behoved that the timo was- approaching'when, the people of Now Zealand would approve, almost without a dissentient voice, the measures which it was tho intention of the Prime Minister to introduce. (Applause.) Sir Joseph Wnrd had said in Auckland that the pnrty in power at tho present time represented a minority of tho votes of New Zealand. They had all heard this many times. [To had gone to tho trouble of examining the election figures and had found that votes east for supporters of the Ward Administration at the late election totalled 102,350; for the. then Opposition (now the Government), 128,251 votes were cast. (Applause.) Labour candi--1 dates polled 13.700 votes, nnd Independent members 16,838. Tho Keform party members thus polled within about 4000 votes of the aggregate polled by all other parties. (Applause.) Tlif* members for Kaipani, Nelson, and Thames had undoubtedly been helped by tho Reform party to gain their seats, The Labour members for Wnngniiui. Grey Lynn—(groaus)-and Otaki had also been aided by tho Reform parly. (Hear, hear.) In face, of theso figures it could not bo said for ono moment that the party in power at the present timo did not represent a majority of tho electors. Ho' con-Ri'-itulated the ladies and gentlemen of the-committee which hnd organised this very fine gathering. He believed that the deliberations of the conference would l>e of great assistance to their worthy leader and his colleagues. Concluding, Mr. Harris stud that he hoped this would not be the last by .any means of similar gatherings while the Reform party had the honour of governing tho Dominion. (Applause.) . MRS. A. K, NEWMAN. THE KOUT.OP SHAM LIBERALISM. "It-is. not generally known," said Mrs' A. W. Aewman, "that the motto of our league is (hat it is better' to fight for tho, good than to. rail at.the ill. That was the principle embodied in the work' of the' members of our. league,' otherwi.se they, could, not:hove toiled'during tho '^ c , l ' nt e'ection in!the manner that ihcv did.' .(Hear/'hKir.)' Mrs. Newman said the league loyally rejoiced in.tho glorious victory.'of the Reform'.party; ' No one had hoped, for siich a complete rout of the sham-Liberal party. The Reform party went to tho country with, empty hands; they had no money"for roads anil bridges—(laughter)—no billets to give, no appointments to make.. And what did they do?—they slew the Ward Government with a sling and a stone. Mrs Newman concluded that the sin of the 'unlit lamp" could never be imputed to the \\ omen's Reform League—it could always bo trusted to keep the Reform flag flying. ; The gntheringapplauded with great'vigour,, nrnl on the call of the Prime Minister cheers were given for- Mrs. Newman, and the meeting sang "For She's a JolJy Good Fellow." THE CONFERENCE CHAIRMAN. AN ERA OF PROSPERITY ASSURED. Mr. F. F. Hockly, chairman of tho, party conference, said that for twentyone years New Zealand had laboured under the stress of a political cloud that had every year grown darker and darker. Now the star of tho Reform party was shining in tho zenith, and a new era had commenced of wise legislation and prudent . economical administration. Tho new Government must he maintained in office in the interests of the progress ami the happiness of the people, and the betterment of tho conditions of every section of tho community. The foundations for the work that must be done were being laid .by the conference, and if its efforts were continued by the rank and file of the party, that happy era of prosperity would bo assured. (Applause.) MR. G. M. THOMSON, M.P. A SELF-RELIANT POLICY. Mr. G. M. Thomson, M.P., said he represented the sunny south. (Laughter.) When ho carao forward in 1908 ho was told that he iiad not a ghost of a chance of winning tho Beat, but he had won it. (Applause.) At that timo their party had only three, members south of the* Waitaki—Messrs. Fraser, Allen, and Malcolm. In 1912 they had nine members, and in 1914 ho prophesied they would have, fourteen. (Applause.) He might point out that thero were onlv fourteen seats south of tho Waitaki. (Laughter.) Ho believed they would also win further seats, north of the Waitaki and in Canterbury. As to the future, ho thought their attitude should be the samo as that which characterised' them on that famous morning when they turned the Government, out. There had been no crowing over their opponents. (Hear, hear.) They recognised that their opponents had put up a good fight, and though they were gratified with tho result, they liad no wish to crow over them now 'that they were defeated. They should bo generous in.tlio moment of victory. It was one of tho main features in the character of their leader that he was so magnanimous towards his opponents. (Applause.) Ho felt sure that under the. administration of the Reform party they would have sound, solid, clean, pure administration. (Applause.) There was one direction in which they could do a service. For some time the dominant partv had by their methods been sapping the strength of the community till it had been in the habit of goinst to the Government for everything. They should have more selfreliance. The Reform party was out for that sore of thing. (Applause.) \ MR. J. R. HAMILTON. WHAT HAPPENED AT AWARUA. Mr. J. R. Hamilton (who has several times contested the Awarua- teat against Sir- Joseph Ward) was received with opplause. and cheers. He said that Ms hearers had no idea how much he appreciated tho reception they had given him that night,' and ever since ho had landed in Wellington. He did not know whether it was because ho came from the southernmost portion of his Majesty's Dominion or because ho hnd had the "cheek and impudence" to stand against the then Prime Minister. (Laughter and applauss.) Ho had felt as soon as he landed in Wellington that ho was something of a political curiosity. (Renewed laughter.) Mr. Hamilton expressed his gratitude for tho kindness and consideration extended by local people to the visiting delegates. His hearers, lie continued,' might like to hear , a. little of what took place in Awarua. ("Yes," applanse, and laughter.) When he Set out to beat Sir Joseph Ward, the latter was entrenched behind ramparts of power aiid popularity, was armed with tlm power of the. public'purse, and had favours td bestow on men. The people thought of favours to come and of favours received,, and said, "What is the good of putting Hamilton in? What can .he do for you?" He-could not tell them anything about th 3 Political Reform. League in Awarua, because they had none. He wished to say on this point that on visiting portions of the Awarua electorate he had found people afraid to be seen sneaking to him in the streets. Thev -,nado linste to get out of sight somewhere, as saon ns possible. (Laughter and applause.) In spite of this sort of thing, continued Mi , . Hamilton, they fought (he light. His hearers might bo interested to know tli-.it thi! la u> Government from time to lime during the lons , , years that it hnd been in pc«?r. had bpeu yrantin , ,' public money for expenditure ill over Uv». A-wsum electoral*, wit. nnly rm I'Mrti and JiriditM, Imt on privuhj' pro. jgrtjr, (Cries of ':Qk'.''L lie liiul w>d

that from tho public platform in Awarua, and lu> wished ti. say it again in Wellington. He did not care if it went into ovory paper in Now Zoalaiid. The liivoreargill newspaper that supported .Sir Joseph Ward said that he would soon i-ilence Mr. Hamilton. Hut Sir Jo-eph Wnrd had not yet replied. He hud said Hint the. Government had not paid for piping the ditches on any man's private ground, but us chairman' of llu< .Southland County Council, he (Mr. Hamilton) could tell them that the (Im-enimi-iit: had dons so. Pips* were in" everybody's mouth durim: the election. (Laughter.) He hadbcen looked upon as "tile man of the pipes" from one end of tho country U> the other. .(Applause.) On behalf of llm di-leisates he extended Uearllell tluuiks to llio-» who had entertained them'. Up .inly wished that he had such an enthusiastic, committee in Awiirmi us the oi'u- with Mrs. Newman nt its head. Ho was finite sure now that the ex-Prime Minister was m> lunger armed with tho public ]im% that there was every probability of ousting him at the next general clt'ction. (Aμpluiise.) .Mr. Hamilton was the last sneaker named, on the proßrnmnip. but several of Hip Ministers wore compelled to speak in obedience to repeated calls frjm the audience. HON. A. L. HERDMAN. TRIBUTE TO UNDAUNTED LEADER. Tho Hon. A. L. Herdman (Minister for Juftice) who was applauded and cheered, said that on many occasions he had addrejsed.audiences in this hall and there seemed to be a sort, of familiarity about the place, but he did not think he had ever had the honour or the plensure of addressing such nn enthusiastic audience as wits present that night. II: was close upon four years since he had Hie, honour of entering the lists as a candidate for one of tho seats in Wellington. He. would never forget tho last, elections, and ho would like to say that when he was returned in 1908 ho had very little hope that the Government' then in power would ultimately be displaced. It seemed so firmly established, and ;o. popular; the power of .the then Prime Minister was so strong that it seemed almost impossible to contemplate the ultimate defeat of that party. But that result had occurred. If New Zealand .was indebted to any man for tho present position of affairs, ho was the gentleman who now occupied the position of Prime Minister. (Hear, hear, and applause.) A Fight Against Odds, Extraordinary courage was. the distinguishing finality of Mr. Massey. • In 1005 the Opposition seemed to be dead. He was defeated on that occasion, himself. (Laughter.) Only 12 or U men came back with Mr. Massey and it seemed amazing that he should attempt to carry on against such odds. He "never dreamed that Mr. Massey would carry on and in tho end succeed, but nothing daunted him. He hnd courage and pluck and now, after, years of struggle and fight, he had his reward. (Applause.) Mr. Herdman endorsed Mr. Thomson's remark that in the.hour of victory no one realised more, than- they-did- that whilst they had Rained a battle'they had a. great respon-cibility-.on.their shoulders. They-had-'to'satisfy the.', people that they had courage.and.were firm; that they wero determined to steer the country along tho line that they believed to be right. Those who took an interest in public lifo nnd read the history of the Empire would have realised that tlio men who had guided the destiny of our nation had been innocent of personal motives or interests. Tlio names of British statesmen stood today as high as—probably, higher than— those of statesmen of other countries. He hoped that the public men of New Zealand.would 'emulate.their-records and example. . If they did the welfare of the country would be assured, and the lives of the people would bo happy. lie quoted a saying of Alfred the Great when he was dying: "This will I truly 'ay, that, whilst I have lived I have endeavoured to do my duty to the country, so that those who come after me may soe .my memory in (rood works." He hoped that this might bo said in the future of Mr. Massey and of some of the gentlemen who belonged to the Reform party. (Applause.) ' . THE HON. F. M. B. FISHER. "AFTER YEARS OF FIGHTING." The Hon. F. M. B. Fisher (Minister for Customs) was very heartily received. TIo recalled tho fact, that a majority of the Ministry were native-born New Zcalanders. (Applause.) He spoke of'the times when the Reform party in opposition was composed of a small unity. The lender of the party was told he could never get into power, and that the people would never get behind him. After all the years of fighting the laugh was ,on their side. (Loud applause.) They wero now in a position to go into the House with the documents in their possession. Mr. Massey had fought, a big fight; ho had been called Moses, and described as a man who led his party to the verge of tho promised land, but could not enter. Mr. Fisher said ho would take tlio liberty now of calling him Joshua. Mr. Massey had also been called a. Sisyphus, but the name was misapplied. Ho had accomplished his long task, and had reached the top. They hoped that by their administration they .would be able to retain the confidence of the people for many years to come. (Applause.) He honestly believed that when the Minister for Financo delivered his Budget it would be the best Budget delivered in New Zealand in the last twenty-five years. (Applause.) The gathering had enough enthusiasm in it to set Roing a great fighting machine from end to end of New Zealand. If it was to retain office, the party must have this assistance. Its sunporters must stand lo it closely. No half-hearted supporters were wanted. (Cheers and applause.) Thfre were many calls for the veteran member for Wairarapa, but Mr. Buchanan contented himself with liowinp, and did not. sneak. Then the gathering called for "Allen." • THE HON. JAS. ALLEN. A BRIEF SPEECH. The Hon. James Allen (Minister for Finance) said that his programme had boen a pretty full one that day and-.foi' Eomo days past, and the same applied to tho evening's programme. A voice: "Budget!" **•- Mr. Allen: "You will hear that on Tuesday night, I hops. Such a gathering, he continued, should not be allowed to pass without realising the effect it would have if they stood together. If they told the people in their districts what i(hey had seen, in Wellington, if they went to Parliament on Tuesday night, and told the people what they heard there—then he thought they would do a great deal of good to the Reform party (Loud applause.) A programme of musical and other items was contributed during the evening. Particulars as to public Reform demonstration, which is'to bo held at the Town Hall this evening, will be found on page i of this issue.