SUBURBS SEAT

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2287, 22 October 1914, Page 6

SUBURBS SEAT

MR. R. A. WRIGHT AT KARORI A VIGOROUS SPEECH INTERESTING POLITICAL SURVEY THE REFORM RECORD The political campaign for the Wellington Suburbs scat was. opened last night by the Reform candidate, Mr. R. A Wright, who addressed the electors at the Karori Parochial Hall. The Mayor of Kai-ori (Mr. \V. T. Hildreth) presided, and there was an attendance of about 45.

Mr. Hildreth, in introducing the candidate, said that he had been requested to preside, and as Mayor ho felt it his duty to do so. It was known that ho did not always see eye to eye with the candidate, but he was an old friend of his, and Mr. Wright would only say what ho thoroughly, believed. Mr. Wright was applauded on rising to.speak. The- reason he was.contesting the seat, he .said, was that ho had been requested to do so .by the executive of the Reform League, and as there seemed a good many who desired it in the electorate, ho had acceded to the request. He was not an entiro stranger to public life, as he had served on the City Council, arid the Harbour Board, and- had occupied a seat in Parliament. Whoever his opponents were he would fight them fairly.

Referring to the incoming .of the present Government, Sir. Wright said that before its members took office it was said that they had had no Cabinet experience, and were'mero novices. Hft held then that that was no reason why they should not have a trial, and he supported them so that they should have a, chance to snow what they coulu do'. Tho old generation of people who had been supporting the late party wero fearful' as to what would take pluca. They viewed Mr. Massey as a dangerGns and reactionary man, but in tho result their prophecies were not borne out. On the contrary, the Massey Government hod done extremely well under exceptional conditions. They had had to contend with strikes, tho smallpox epidemic, and the serious Empire crisis which now existed. Through it all he thought they had done the very best that men could do. (Applause.) Extended Liberal Measuros. It had been said that- the present Government would repeal the Old Age Pons ions Act, tho Advances to Workers Act, etc., and oppose anything that was truly Liberal. Had they dope so? Instead, they had extended those measures. (Applause.) They had not proved at all reactionary in their policy. In the short timo they had been in power they had reduced the age at which the old ago pension could be received by women, extended tho widows' pension'scheme, granted military pensions, increased tho graduated land tax, and negotiated for reciprocity with Australia. That demonstrated that tho Government was progressivo, and had passed Liberal I. measures/ The Public Service Act was' one of their-best'.measures, and the whole of tho Civil Service had been placed under Commissioners, where they would get fair play and advancement according to their merits. He knew that there had , been' some friction, but if tho control of the Commissioners was allowed to take root, the Civil Service would be an excellent place for. all Civil Servants, and none, of them would be afraid of any political , party. (Applause.) The Commissioners had been subjected to somo criticism, but they had not reduced the. number of employees, nor reduced salaries. Tliey had increased salaries on two occasions, so that they had not been niggardly where it was necessary to make advances. The man in tho Service would not be kept baok if he had ability. '-~■' Sound Financial Position. He wanted to impress upon the minds W tho electors that although there had been extraordinary demands on the finances of the Government, it could ■not be denied that the financial position •was now extremely good. Ho. contrasted recent loans raised by New Zealand and different colonies, showing that the finance of New Zealand this year stood on a better position,-so far as the raisin" of tho loans wont, than aJiy of the Australian States or Canada , . Tho Government had been called upon to raise money to pay off a number of shortdated, loans, but their finance was as 1 strong as ever it could be. (Applause.) A voico: How does it compare with the previous Government ? Mr. Wright: I think it is better than any previous Government. At no time in' the history of New Zealand was it more necessary to have a strong financial position than at present. They were, taking part in.an Empire straggle, and it behoved them to see that they were able to meet the aftermath whon there would be a rush for money.. He believed that if the ptesent Government was. in power the finances of New Zealand would then b<> in a strong position. Hβ thought the country should go along steadily and strongly now. . It was not a time for retrenchment. As long as the seas were open', and that would bo while the British Fleet was afloat, and it would bo always afloat^-(applause)—. they had nothing to fear from an economic point of view. In bare justice to the Minister of Finance, he remarked, it must be said that he had at- ' tained remarkable resultß_ undor adverse conditions, in meeting the oqst of the smallpox outbreak, the industrial upheaval, and the cost of the Expeditionary Force. (Applause.) Government. Increases. He had said that there had been no retrenchment. On the other hand, there had been added to the Teachers' Superannuation Fund each year, £10,000; added to Public Service Superannuation Fund, £25,000; added to the. ] Railway Superannuation! Fund, £25,000; increases to the Civil Service, 1912-13, £49,500; 1913-14, £51,600; increases to. the Post and Telegraph Department, 1912-13, £42,000: 1913-14, £43,000; increases to the police this year, £18,000; increases to.' school teachers, £29,000 last year,l and £51,000 this,year. Hβ was aware that there was still some dissatisfaction amongst teachers, but ho could only say he believed the Government had done its best with the money at its disposal. Further increases wero: Increases to tho Railway Servants, £94,564; for . military pensions there . was a charge .of £44,000; Old Age Pensions increases by the reduction of age £70,000; and further liberal pension amendments, amounting to £10,000; widows' pensions, £5000; .concessions under the Customs Act, £30,000; and sinking fund for public buildings-, £10,000. Notwithstanding that the revenue suffered serious loss through the disasters ho had referred to, namely, smallpox, £23,700; the strike, at least £100,000; and loss of railway revenue through both causes of about £178,000, the "finances of the country to-tlay were as strong as ever they had been in the history of New Zealand. (Applause.) 'i'ho Government had been able to do what they had dono because tho country had been prosperous, and the revenue had boon buoyant.

Land Sottlement. Touching on land settlement, Mr. Wright said that its vigorous prosecution was essential to tlio welfarq of / u e coui+iiy, and he thought the pre-

sent Government was fully alive to tho fact. Last year '600,396 acres wore thrown open to 2051 selectors, and during the present year 790,000 acres were ueing thrown open. Estates purchased in 1909-10, during the torin of the last Government, amounted to 42,805 acres, at a cost of £260,793: 1910-11, only 14,399 acres, at a. cost, of £155,79t>: in 1911-12, 44,447 acres were inirchnsod, at a cost of £381,483; in 1912-13, 52,098 acres wcro purchased at a cost of £428,044; and in 1913-14, 141,062 acres wero purchased, at a cost of £560,708. That showed that the present Government was doing very well in purchasing and cutting up estates. Other Matters. Mr. Wright went on to compare the method of the present and the past Government in supplying Government advertisements to the newspapers. Tho Government had etriven to to absolutely [air, regardless of tho political opinions of the papers concerned. (Applaueo.) He pointed out that the Government was erecting more workers' dwellings than their predecessors;'had.raised the Savings Bank rate of and had otherwise striven to deal fairly and squarely with every soctiou of tho community. (Applause.) Naval expenditure was another matter ho touched on. He was coming to tho opinion that Now Zealand in the future would have to have a navy of her own. He suggested that New Zealand should secure some of the discarded English cruisers for- training purposes.. (Applause.) He also advocated , that criminal prisoners should be put to eome xemunerative work', to help \support their wives and families. ■ . _ . ' Answering questions,' Mr. Wright Kvid ho would, if elected to Parliament, support the removal or reduction of the three-fifths Licensing majority. He favoured the Referendum on the Biole-in-scliools question, or any other democratic question on which a referendum was asked by a large number of the people. , Mr. B. G. H. Burn moved a hearty vots of thanks to the candidate, and Mr. H. Hart seconded the motion, it was carried by acclamation. Mr Wright will address the electors of Wellington Suburbs at tho hall, Maka.ro, this evening, at 8 p.m. He speaks at the; Methodist Church, Ngaio, to-morrow evening. LABOUR CANDIDATE FOR AVON. ißj Telegraph—Pree* Aeeo«iq.tlon.) Christohurch, October 21. Mr. D. G. Sullivan, Labour candidate for Avon, addressed his liret meeting to-night and spoke Etrongly against monopolies. He favoured increased taxation on land values and spoke generally- in favour of the platform of the Social Democratic Party. Mr. Sullivan also supported the bare majority on the licensing issue. He wa6 accorded a unanimous vote of thanks and con-, fidence. • . DUNEDIN . LABOUR CANDIDATES. Dune(Jln, October 21. At a meeting of the Political Wbour Representation Committee to-night Mr. A Walker was selected as the Labour candidate for Dunedin. North, and Mr. J. W. Munro for Dunedin Central.