PREMIER IN REPLY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1981, 11 February 1914, Page 8

PREMIER IN REPLY.

ADDRESS AT TE AROHA* THE STATE & THE SETTLER INCREASED ADVANCES. THE FUTURE OF PARTIES (By Tclcffrapli—Frees Association,) Te Areha, February 10. "Political addresses were delivered in the ,Theatre Royal at To Aroha tonight by tho Prime Minister (tho Right ' Hon. W.'F. Massey) and tho Minister 1 of Railways (the Hon. W. H. Herries), in j tho course of which both replied to rc- { cent statements by Sir Joseph Ward. There was a very largo audience, the ' theatro being crowded to the doors, ' and the Prime Minister and his colleagues had a rousing and enthusiastic reception. In tho course of his remarks, Mr. ! Massey referred to tho occasion as | being practically tho opening of the political campaign. Tho session of 1913, with 'the difficulties which had to bo met by tho Government, who reviewed, and Mr. Massey went on to deal with the various Acts passed during his term of office. Speaking of land legislation, he said that nearly 2000 Crown tenants, who wero only leaseholders previously, had pow- the opportunity of converting their land into freehold. Tho Government also had given the opportunity of paying for tho land by instalments. So far as the . Government'q land legislation was concerned, ho was proud of it, and was sure that it had been of benefit to the settler and to the country at large. . More was to be done in this direction next session. _ . As indicating what was being done in the direction of land settlement, he quoted figures showing that, during tho year ended December 31, 1913, the Government , had placed on the land 2143 settlers, who had taken-up 677,910 acres. Folly of Short-dated Debentures. , Referring to. the financial difficulties which the Government had had to face, he asked what could bo thought of tho financiers who had allowed £8,000,000 of loan money to fall due in one year. Tho .fact'that the 4£ million loan, recently raised in- London, had been subscribed five times over in an hour and a half spoke volumes for tho esteem in which this country was held. The Government, had reason to congratulate itself, too," for unless tho English investor thought well of the people in of this country he would not lend his money so freely. The '4} million loan, which had been raised nearly two years ago [by the Mackenzie Government] had cost £144,049, and, to raise tho money to pay it off, it would cost the present Government no less than' £235,000, and charges and expenses of renewal estimated at tho same proportion as the cost of raising tho £3,000,000 loan. He hoped that would be a lesson to the people of New Zealaud to . avoid short-dated debentures. - ■ . . . More Liberal Advances. It had been said that, tho Government had done nothing for the settler and tho, worker. In this .connection ho would say that very shortly, possibly within the' next few days, tho Government intended to put up the limit of advance to settlers, -workers, and local bodies. These' were the proposals: To increase, the limit'for advances to settlers from£7so to £1000; to workers, from £400 to £500 (which Was tho maximum allowed by the law at present); and to local authorities from £200 to £500 for to put up the limit of advances to be available within counties or road districts,_ advances within townships including the' populous centres to be made up to £2500. During tho eighteen ' months in which they had been in- office, tho Government had lent- to settlers, workers and local bodies a total of £2,472,715. Land and Sea Defence) The Leader of the Opposition had criticised the Government's defepce policy. So far as land defence was concerned, said Mr. Massey, the country generally approved of compulsory military training so long as it did not cost too much. As regarded naval defence he did not think that there should be any difference of opinion on the subject. We had in the past pa'id to tho Imperial Government £100,000 annually by way of subsidy. Hereafter there would.be deducted from that payment the cost of the-training ship Philomel, so that there was no contemplated increase in the expense. The interest and sinking fund on the gift warship was about £145,000, which, 4dded to the £100,000 subsidy, made a total of £245,000 per. annum for our naval defence. In 1909 an agreement was entered into between the New Zealand Government and the Admiralty under which tho latter proposed to placo here two Bristol cruisers, three destroyers, and two submarines, but what had we got apart from' the Philomel? There were the Psyche .and the Pyramus—two boats useful for policing the Pacific, and other purposes, but as fighting ships obsolete. With the of-, fleers and men, no' fault .was to bo found, but there was no . doubt that the shifis were out of date. Tho Government had asked the Home authorities to comply with the 1909 agreement, arid had said that, if this were dono,- and if, -within 18 months, they would give us the two Bristol cruisers, New Zealand would pay another £50,000 a year. So far there was no reply. The matter could not be allowed to rest, and if something were not doue it would bo tho duty of tho Government /to ask Parliament for authority to build, at least one cruiser in a British shipyard. Tile Prime Minister denied that tho cost of this would be enormous, as Sir Joseph Ward had said it would. He. thought it about time that New Zealand made up.its mind how much it could afford to pay for combined navaPand land defences. Ho believed that the Pacific would lie a storm centre in the future, where British peoplo would havo'to fight for then- supremacy. .We should do all that was passible to. ensure naval supremacy in these waters. This'was not a party question, and he hoped that it would never be allowed to become one.. Only Two Political Parties* Soon. After a reference, to the recent labour unrest and the Government, and Oppo- , sition attit.ido towards it, the Prime . Minister sail that there were going to bo , two main parties in the future —on tho , one hand the Reform candidates (really , the Progressive Liberals), and on the other the Social Democrats, the "Red i Fed" and his supporters. Ilie men who i had called themselves Liberals- in past years would have to choose between the patriotic Reformers and a set of men ijvho, if they had the opportunity, would . make New Zealand the first Socialistic [ republic in tho Pacific. "Tho placo for tho true Liberal is with lis," lie declared, "not, with the Red Fed." Tho Prime Minister closed with a promise ■ of a vigorous public works policy. He • was loudly cheered on resuming his seat. r Mr. Herries said that when Sir Joseph t Ward was in To Aroha recently ho seem- - ed to be altogether on the defensive and > apologising for tho acts of the Opposition, and well he might. Referring to the recent industrial troubles, the Min- [ ister contrasted the attitude of the Opposition with that of the South' African 3 Opposition party, which had supported a the Government in maintaining law and order.