A TELLING SPEECH

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2168, 5 June 1914, Page 8

A TELLING SPEECH

THE HON. F. M. B. FISHER AT EASTBOURNE OPPOSITION WANDERINGS. ELECTION ISSUES DEFINED A very largely-attended meeting, comprising over two hundred persons, was addressed last night in tho Eastbourno Town Hall by tho Hon. F. M. B. Fisher (Minister of Marine). Mr. ]?. Didsbury occupied tbe chair. In opening his address tho Minister pointed out what an extremely difficult problem'it was lor the Government to. endeavour to please tho Opposition critics, who, even amongst themselves, had differences so great that it was impossible for them to reconcilo them to each other. "For instance," said Mr. Fisher,, "they accuse us in tho north of having «tolcu their policy, and in tlie south of having no policy at all, and somewhere else they declaro that they aro tho only party that has a policy, but that they have it up their sleeve, and will discloso it at the right time. Well," continued tho Minister, "if wo have stolen their policy they certainly cannot have it up their sleeve; if it is up their sleevo it is certain that we cannot have stolen it. The fact is that their policy is not yet in existence. This is probably due to the inability of tho Liberal party and thoir allies, tho Federation of Labour, to arrivo at an agreement as to their partnership terms." The Minister pointed out that whilo many people believed that there was littlo or no difference between the policy of tho party that was in and the party that was out, there was a material diit'orence which could not be found set forth in the programme of either party. "For example," he said, "ono of the foremost planks in tho Labour Party programme is that of tho right to work, but who, during tho re. cent industrial crisis, had to enforce this doctrine!' It was enforced by the Massey Administration, who took up tho attitude that while a man has tho right to strike, and also may exerciso tho right not to work if he wishes, ho does not possess the right of sayihg that no other man shall do tho work which he himself .refuses to do."

The Bend of the Allies. The Minister asked his audience what would' havo been' tho position during tho recent' industrial crisis, if Sir Joseph Ward and his party had beon holding 'offico with the aid of tho representatives of the Federation Of.Labour. Probably tho,,most important issue at tho. next election would be the .government of tho country by a party that"was united in ideals' as against two "parties whose sole bond was hatred of tho present Administration. Probably, outside of this feeling, thero was nothing in common between tho Federation of Labour, and the Liberals, and tho alliance which was sought to be formed was built up merely on a mutual desire to get rid of a Government that stood for law and order. Sir Joseph Ward and the Riot Act. Sir Joseph.Ward had said in his speech at Alexandra, in the south, that ho could have ended tho striko in two days. When asked'-'how ho would do it ho said, amongst.other methods, that ho would havo' read tho Riot Act. What, asked tho Minister, did this convey? One of tho'strongest and most powerful anxieties of tho Government during tho recent industrial crisis was to get through tho trouble'without having recourse to such an extreme method. Reading the. Riot Act would havo exposed private- property within the strike area to danger by firo or other disaster, and the immediate cancellation' of all insurance policies by this various companies. This necessarily followed- the reading of tho Riot Act under which insurance companies wero released from their policy obligations. Tho object of tho Government, instead of exposing private property to danger, was to protect it, and what the result would havo been of carrying out 1 tho policy indicated by Sir Joseph Ward was hard to determine.

Settling the Land. The Government realised that one of tho most important safeguards that could bo'brought about in tho countrywas tho closer settlement of tho land. During their first year of office the land tax brought in an increased revenue of £81,000, and this was largely contributed to by the increaso of tlio graduated land tax enacted in tho Land Act of 1012. As regarded land settlement, Mr. Massoy had exerted himself strenuously, and for the two-year period ended March 31, 1914, no fewer than 4155 selectors had been placed upon 1,403,210 acres of land, the averago area of tho holdings thus selected being 352 acres. During tho last live years of tho Ward Admbistration 12,300 settlers took, up 8,808,355 acres of land, tho averago holding.per settler being 716 acres, or more than double tho area of tho averago holding selected' during the Primo Minister's administration of (ho Lands Department.

The Unreasonable opposition. Tho Minister then went on to descj-ibe how unreasonable wero the criticisms of tho Opposition. While Sir Joseph Ward was saying that tho Government's naval policy was air wrong, and that they were engaged in attempting to set up a toy navy, Mr. Myers, who succeeded Sir Josepii Ward as Minister of Defence, was telling tho lmpulation of London that the New _ Zealand policy was-on sound, linos. While Sir Joseph Ward declared that ho was appalled at the bcrease in the National Debt, and that Mr. Massoy had increased it by twelve millions in two years, Mr. R.usboll; his first lieutenant, was tolling tho peoplo in the south that the Massey Government did not borrow as much as they ought to have, and that the reason it " had not was that they wero the friends of the largo money-lenders, and they wanted-"'to make money scarce and so raise tho rate of interest for the benefit of their friends. While Mr. Mac Donald, the member for the Bay of Plenty, was tolling the people that Mr. Massey was unable to carry out a progressive settlement policy owing to the fact that the Liberals were so energetic that they had settled all tho land'that w-as_ available, other members of the Opposition wero informing ■ tho public that the Government x?ns adopting a, taihoa policy, and not settling the land in small areas'bocause its members were the friends of the large landholders; The Pension Schemes. Mr. Fisher _ dealt at considerable length also with the pension schemes, and pointed outhow many of them wero on a wrong basis. The old age pension scheme had put a penalty upon thrift, and, in some cases, rewarded thriftlessness, and he hoped that before long the Government would be able to remedy this anomalous condition of affairs and -make tho pension more equitable in its distribution. The Minister . also dealt with the question of the cost of pensions for the blind and for those who in the course of their occupations had been incapacitated from earning their liveli"hoed. "It has always been a puzzle to me," said the Minister, "that whereas in our legislation ~we make provision for men who go to war, so that in the event of their being killed or wounded the men themselves or their next of kin shall lie provided for, yet at the same time wo have men who arc falling in tho battle of industrial strife evorydav hi th» year, and no permanent .Tirovisiou,.

is made for thorn :it n.l't. Tho caitinumity is rick enough, and 1 belicvo willing enough, to make provision for tltoso who, owing to misfortsiae or acoidwn

are incapable of earning a living, and it is a reflection upon our present civilisation, that men who have been rendered incapable of wai-kiug should be compelled to stand upon' street corners and beg for charity to keep body and soul: together." The Naval Position. Touching upon tho Defence question Mr. Fisher said thai lis Wanted to correct tho misrepresentations of tbr Opposition. 'While the finger of scorn had been pointed at the "proposal of tho Government,- to have one up-to-date ship doing service in our waters, no attention was directed by the Opposition to the existing condition of affairs in which wo were- entirely dependent . upon, three warships, which were out of dato and inefficient for tho purposes for which they were stationed here. Before Australia started her own navy New Zealand was able to share the benefits of Australia's contribution to tho Imperial Navy, but since Australians had decided that they were going to develop a national spirit and have,a navy of their ■mvn, Now Zealand was deprived of any assistance from the Australian subsidy. The result -was that to-day wo "were in the position of paying- a higher baval con* tribution than ever before in our history and that with tlio increased contribution had come enoruMVisiy increased inefficiency. This was the " dilemma in which tho Government was placed,' audit was anxious to sec that- the Dominion should have some substantial return for its naval ooatributkm. The Government was determined tfpon this point: that whatever action it took, whatever officers, 'men, or ships should be under its control, the wlwk naval defence force would automatically pass under tho control of the British Admiralty in the event of hostilities. Provision for this was ma-do iu tho Acf, oflast session. -

Ludicrous Criticism. It was almost ludicrous to hear tho Leader of the Opposition, complain about the burden of defence iu this country. It was Sir Joseph Ward who increased tho naval subsidy from £40,000 a year to £100,000, It wan Sir Joseph Ward who put tho Compu'lsofv .Training Bill on tho Statute Book. It was Sir Joseph Ward who presented tho Dreadnought to the English Government, and it was Sir Joseph Ward who proposed, at tho Imperial Conference, that -wo should pay lOs, per head" for overy person iu New Zealand) or £025,000 per annum ' towards the cost of: naval defonco alottc. • And bow tlio right hon. gentleman was telling - tho •country that the burden of-defence/of which ■ho himself was tho author, was too horrifying for words-. ' '' ' Tho .Minister dealt with tho Public .Service Act and other measures pas-sod by tho Reform. Government and before concluding his. speech said that ho would bo prepared to answer- any questions - that might bo asked about the legisla-1 tion of the Government-, Ho concluded ! his speech amidst applause. No ques-'l tions wore asked, bat a vote of thanks i to Mr._ Fisher, and of confideiico in tho j Administration of which he is a member was moved by Dr. fell, seconded by Mr. Hobbes, and carried uusniaously. " I