THE PRIME MINISTER AT NAPIER

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2146, 12 May 1914, Page 6

THE PRIME MINISTER AT NAPIER

» A HEARTY WELCOME REFORM WORK BRIEFLY REVIEWED. (By Tclecraph.— Association.) Napier, May 11. Tho Primo Minister (the Right Hon. W. F. Massey) delivered a political address at tho Municipal Theatre to-night, before an audience of about 1800 people, and received a hearty welcome. In prefacing his remarks, tho Primo. , Minister _said lie proposed to tell those present as much as possible regarding tho administration and policy of the Government for tho last two years. Three years ago, he said, the members of the present Government -,»Cre before tho people as candidates, and it fell to his lot to put forward' a policy of which the greater part of the people of this ■ country .approved. Ho had told the . peoplo tbmt if they had a majority it would nc their duty to substitute a freehold for a leasehold policy, , and that had been done. Tho more they ' heard of the policy of tho Government the more they would approvo of it. The Prime Minister referred' to the various 1 Bills introduced in connection with tho land question. In 1911 tho freeholders 1 were few, and the leaseholders had a i large majority, but public opinion had changed since then and tho freeholders wore now in tho majority. Ho detailed the effects of tho various Land Bills in--1 troduced since tho Eoform Party came into power. In the past, he said, settlors had gone on to the back-blocks with promises that roads would be mado through their country, but those pledges had not been carried out. Now, however, ho had provided that every penny they contributed should go towards the roads until all the roads were completed, and ho did not intend to stop there. (Applause.) Ho intended to ask parliament for a loan specially for improving such districts. Crown lands were becoming scarce, and since tho Covernme'nt came into office it had purchased 1 £559,000 worth of land for settlement, ' and over 140,000 acres in one year ah.ne. ■ Nearly all that land was now tatisfac- ■ torily settled. Ho quoted figures to show ; that 14,399 acres were purchased in i 191'1, aiid>44,446 in 1912, and 52,098 in 1913, and 141,062 in 1914. The Government's land policy aimed at increasing the number of producers and generally . , assisting in v tho development of the i 'country. _ Mr. -Massey a]so touched cn 'he ques- . tion of workers' homes, and $aid ho had submitted proposals.for tho coming year i which provided for tho expenditure of . £75,000 in this connection. The system of workers' homes came into operation : before ho came into office, but he was tho first man in Parliament to move the i resolution which had becomo to-day the ■ Advances to Workers Act. It was quito > impossible to find all the money re- • quired to meet all the applications for • tho homes, and so he had arranged thatlocal bodies could assist, and he t'i'sted 1 they would take advantage of that ar- : rangement. Referring to the Native lands que'st tion, Mr. Massey said tho present Native Minister was enthusiastic and had 1 tho confidence of the Natives, ar.d they had arranged that where the Natives had surplus land which they desired to ■ dispose of tho Government would pur- ; eliase it at a. fair price. He vent on 1 to give details of N tho Native land ac- ■' quired by the Government, and intim- , ated that the Government would ccn- • tinue that policy. [ Dealing, with old age pensions, tho ; Prime Minister referred to the improve- • ments mado in the Act last session. . Dealing with railway matters, Mr. Mas- > sey said the Government was now'carry- - ing out the construction of lines that i were surveyed thirty years ago. It was tho intention of the Government to • provide better roads and better railway i communication than they .had ever had r hefore. Among other matters, Mr. Massey ) also referred to the recent strike, cont tending that the Government had, with , the assistance of the specials, dealt with l the trouble in tho most satisfactory s manner possible. He dealt at some r length with tho financial position be- - fore and after the present party came f into power, and said that if tho pre- [ sent Government- had borrowed njore E than its predecessors it was because of - the legacies left to it. The way in i which the last loans wero subscribed ' showed what was thought by outsiders f of the country's financial position, t They would find, he said, that the country .was becoming moro and more prosperous. Referring to the immigration of boys, 5 ho said that the previous Government ' had arranged for them to receive only " ss. a week, whereas this Government ' increased that to 7s. Od. The-country ' needed more population to assist in its I development. He also referred to the fact that there had been no increase in ' taxation through tho Customs, though 3 a certain amount of money had been 1 raised, by increasing the graduated land jj tax. The expenditure had had to be r increased because better salaries were paid to the Railway and Civil Service employees. ~ In conclusion, the Prime Minister • .said ho believed tho Government would j have the approval of a very large majority of people before the end of the year. Mr. Massey, who received a good hearing, was accorded a hearty p vote of thanks. Mr. P. H. Kelly, Reform candidate t for the Napier seat, briefly addressed |. the meeting, and had a very hearty reo ception.