SIR JOSEPH WARD.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2138, 2 May 1914, Page 8

SIR JOSEPH WARD.

SPEECH AT MOSCIEL,

SOME MORE GRIEVANCES,

(By Telegraph,—Press Association.) Dtmsdtfl, ilay I. Sir Joseph Ward addressed' u largo meeting at Jlosgiel to-nigftt, and was accorded a very good hearing. Sir Joseph Wurd, ivlio was received with applause, said he- was proud to have hait Use privilege during the past ten days o.t travelling iii the interior o! Otago, and aiiltougii having oiten spoKen upon four or nvo dilferont occasions to very largo' audiences in ljuecits* town, ArroH'toivn, Ulcnerehy, and also in tho streets of Qucciistown (altlwugh he had -spolien to a good many iiumlreus of peopie), isardly one word referring to the- fact that .he had been thers iiad been published iu a journal that the people in the country relied upon far inluMiiation ronceruiug the ewnts of tile day. tie did not warn to appear as.an invidious critic as to how people should control their affairs, but how did the ■attitude of this journal compare with what, it did wljen tho present Prime Minister was Leader -of the Opposition ? They had telegraph offices 'open all over the country when he was trying to' say ov do sonwtiiiiig.- The Liberals were the "strongest party in New ■ Zealand by many thousands, and he said that people had a right to know what the leaders of the party were doing. They only wanted rair play, and he mentioned tho. mutter in order to impress upon tho Liberals present not to rely upon the journal opposing the Liberal party. He iiad read two reports in the journal in question, sent by its Wellington-'corre-spondent which conveyed au erroneous impression. One thing was that some of tho members of the party who were opposed to certain representatives of tho Government in Wellington were not going to have the slightest chance because of association by tho Liberals with the Hed i'eds., which would prevent them from being returned iu the city-of Wellington. On the day beforo that- a statement was telegraphed down to this journal that a leading '"Hed ft-ilist" was addressing a large number of people, and lie tsrge-tj thojn to vote for one of tho Ministers-of the present Government at the general election. Ho was not present- to say what the Liberals were'going to do at tho lioxt general election. A progressive Government and a progressive" 'party would not attempt to throw dust in the eyes of the people, or to create an -erroneous impression as to what thfl Liberal Party was going to do. They had a record of 20 years, and there fcul novel' boon anything equal to it- in the history of the gauntry,.or in any other country. (Applause.) Various sections of peop-io hi New 'Zealand, individually and oolk'ctircly, w-era bomtrl to esereiiio their free and iudepshdosst" judgment when tho time for the general election came round. H« objected, as leader of tlw Liberal Party, to any attempt by their opponents to sa.y what they "were doiii.g, or that there was an alliance tawc-cu tho party and any other body, when, they ki-i-osv nothing whatever about the party's atfitlrs. Responsible to tho people. They were responsible to tho people, and the groat party to which,.they be-, lwng, as to tho-course they intended to take-. Ho-had;alluded to this only for tho purpose of -saying that it mi|ht bo. expected between now aijd tho general election that they would hear and fee all sorts of statements niade about tho I Liberal Party He did iiot blafil-e- t-hem for- work-iiig together, that was what the Liberal Party ought to do, and were, he iVas.pleased to say., doing toflay far better than they had for the past'fifteen ' years.' Ho objeet'od to. the . ctHleavoHr to ci'catc a- wrong iiiipressioti of their party by the party to whom- they.wero opposed, and always were. (Applause.) He only Wanted to carry them back to what tho Liberal Party had. haft to face. The late Sir Gcotgo Grey- was one of the foremost mei-i in advocacy in . the* interests of tho people, though from the .beginning to the end. lie was '.'ouiiht; by .til© party now. known as tbo Ivcfefai Party, because he was on the side of tho people. (Applause.) The fete John Ballance, while he lived, was fought .with ijqaal detormlqation by exactly the same party as were represented by their opponents to-day. Wis iat.e Mr. Seddon tnot ivitli a similar opposition, and it was only iiatwal that the present Loader of t-ho Opposition i slioni-d have to eonte-ntl with the same, thing; but what was the Liberal .Party cimteiidiii!! for when they caiuo into offica in' 1801? They had been Working Consistently towards iuo recognised goal, and that Was to ensure- that the large la-mlcd areas i-iot New Zealand, which wero held by powerful man and supported by Ihiitiieial institutions . who wero not allied with but who stood ia *>thc> way -of progress, The ■ policy of the Liberal Party had.been to burst tip larsjo -estates, and to sea that.men and" women were put On tho land. How many people would contradict the statemeat -thai, there ,was iiever a party in t-his country who had fought so hard against progress as the Conservatives. When tho Liberal Government comnjeHcod breaking up largo -estates they urerc labelled all over the w otic! as the sevGji devils of Socialism. This was the cry . when Sir John M'lvenxic brought in tho land proposals which tlie.y would resiie.iiibe!' had beoa responsible for the settling of thousands of. jiL'Opfo ou the iaiici. (Appla.iisp.) Tltey would all renvfiiubcr that- the late fia-v----eriii-nent had iptrodaced a cheap money schcmo, and somo would roniomber thatthe same Conservative Press was upon the sido ef the moiwy-leitdcrs, and .was lighting against tlw proposal' .to give- tho. people cheap in«npy, where they w?fe paying high; rates of interest brfore> TSie late Government had placed 1-30,000 souls upon, the land. What would have been tho use of doing that if tho Government had not' provided.t-ho people with money at a cheap rate, so that tho people could bo supported, oil the land. (Appia-tise.) Sir Joseph Ward proceeded to refer to tho time whew ho had sought a seat on tho. Bluff Harbour Board. Tho same experience with regard to tho Opposition had b(»on met with, and evert Chinese had been .oatried to the polling booth in motor-cars. Those who represented t-ho Liberal Party and were eudoavourihg to bring abosit a better condition of things twenty years ago Svore to-day being fought by.the saute class which went' to tho extent of using tho unfortunate Chi.uei? and setting him to cxereiso a vote against tlio JJritishor, simply because ho had do.iio liis duty. (Applause.) ' Tho Ijiboral Party had 1c.ut£14,000,000 to settlors and workers in this country, anc? its opponents in 18D81.894 declared in tho House thai firstthe party could iiot.- borrow money in London, second that it could- not lend jt, and third that.it would lose- it if it did. The Liberal Party did-borrow moiiey and did Imhl it, and had only lost £ 1000 on the land —(appbuso)-;and the Department had earned in profits upwards of £300,000. There were. many thousands of ivwkc-rs who had benefited by tho party's lending scheme, and it was a remarkable thing that fere wore a few men'who wero oil tho lowest rung of .tho ladder at the time of this financial scheme who had mado fort-Mies who were now aping tho aristocrats and were in front of tho Reformers. Tho Liberal Party had about 80 per cent, of the Press against it. and -a good many oi' tjicm had been bought up by tho squatters and vne-n who had done well oil the In lid; but the platform Was .stronger than the Press. Tho Naval QuDstlan. Sir Joseph Ward • referred to the f

nar-al question at groat length, largely on the lines of provioiis speee-hos, condemning tho establishment of a local navy. Ho was -one (as was tlic Liberal party as a Whole) who recognised tbo importance of defence for New Zealand, and who believed that wo had to seo that vs ivero' property equipped from tho standpoint of internal defence particularly. (Applause.) If they Jcopt on as they wero going, in fivo years tho eovmtry would be paying £1,500,000 for, naval and internal defence. In tho interest of internal d-efeneo, they should not allow tho navy t« ran away with them imicss they ivore to get into serious trouble. He wanted to leave this question whore it had keen for 72 years. All these years New Zealand had received full-recognition from tho countries opposed to tile Empire hccan.se of tho great value of tbo British Navy. The. right course was to stand close to ilia British Navy, ami by contributions 4o thai Navy from tho people of this country they should do their part and recocnis* that it was upon the safety of the British Isles that tho safety of New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and South Africa depended (Applause.)

ConcertHTig the flrospdrlty off W-Z. The present Gorerumont was going to reduco the cost of living, aiid how lwd it dono that? What ac had dono was. instead of decreasing duties upon ordinary- arfeios of cofisuiiiptioii (aocording to tho "Year Boolt"j they had increased them by 3.10 per cent. Th.o present Government had for eighteen y;ears disputed every amount tho libera! I'arty _had at the- end #f, tho year hy tftty of surplus, -and a. latgG proportion of the' newspaper Press had taken up the- same attitude. Tho speaker went OB to quote at length from a prospectus issued by the- present ■Government in 'liondon on tho ilo-atiitg of the last loan, and pointed out'that what was contained there_ was the. result <>f legislation and administration by the Liberal Gov. eminent. Tho present Government showed in this document that £1128,000 had boon trattsforrerj to the Public Wm-!;s Fund sineolSOl; that there had been an increase ia population .of 280,0(3!); that there ivns alt increp.6o in land -under cultivation of 2,160,000 acres; an incfeaso i-u horses of 20,000; of.'cattlo 20.000; of sheep 3,700,000; an increase in railway revenue of £2,150,000; in imports to £1-I.!)OOXOO ■ in experts- to £12.,30i)-;OGO; iii chflo-so .01,400,000; aiid iu butter of £1,1100,000. Tboy said further. that land values had hicwased by £25,000,000; thai dcjwsits in ordinary "hanks hac! increased £23,000* 000, and deposits iu tho Savings Bank by £12,300,000. All iheso stafot-ies w : ero given to show tiie prospfiroiss eo'nd'ition of the eotUitiy, and if you listened to tho pre-se-nt Governnioiit you would think that it was responsible for all this. It had used what the Liberals had done to gst the loan <m satrsiaciory t-erir.s. Mr. J. T. Johnson :novorl -.—"That a very hearty vote -of thanks ho accordeii Joseph Ward for his able address, au-d this nieefimj of Chalmers electors expresses its continued confidence i» him in tho matter oi" the administration of tire affairs of tills cenmtry." Mr. Seddon secoiKt-ed tho motion, which was can'icd lUia-Mmously. Sir Joseph Ward expressed his appreciation of the yotc. . < "