THE RECORD OF REFORM.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2303, 10 November 1914, Page 6

THE RECORD OF REFORM.

' COMPREHENSIVE 1 REVIEW. BY THE PRIME MINISTER : STORY OF PLEDGES KEPT.' : COMMERCIAL OUTLOOK GOOD AND'FINANCES SOUND. ;.',r >" - A CHEERING SPEECH. (By Tdeerajli.—Press Associa'tlon.) - Papakura, November 9. ( r . The Prune Minister opened tho politi- - ! cal campaign . here this evening, when :he addressed a large and representative . . I meeting in the Papalcura Town Hall. s Mr. A. Willis, chairman of the Town ! Board, , presided. -The . seating accom- ; modation was overtaxed,- and many of ; - those present had to he content witlr . standing room. Many weroalso standing outside the door. • ; , , Mr. Massey received a very enthusiastic reception and hearing.'On'enter-j ing the.hall he w r ?s received with loiidand,continued applause.' As he rose i • to speak he was greeted ivith .cheers and renewed applause. ' I The Work of Reform. :. i:' Mr. Massey -in his opening remarks ■, ■ said that it was now just 21 years'since ;.' he first' visited Papakura on political r It- was now 18 years since t" -he was- first .elected vas member'• for ( 'Franklin,' and he hoped to have the ' . honour of representing it; for' another ,v-. .18 years.... (Hear, hpar.) .He was not ! there that evening for the purpose of . making: what might be called aifighfiiig ii-speech. He might' have occasion later ; on iii 'the campaign ;to take the gloves /); .- .'off, and when the, occasion arose to take them off he would not hesitate to do so. i He intended on'..the. present occasion • . to give them some information as to the work that had beeii carried out by the present. Government. Difficulties that Beset the Government. ; During the past two and a half years, ' j said»Mr. Massey, no Government that had > over held office in New Zealand had had i : so many, difficulties /to contend with as: the present. Government had had. ; . hear.) He was not complaining , . 'of this, as- theso difficulties like all .... .others .had a knack of disappearing i ]wheh.' they were'firmly grappled with. !, This was the experience/of the Governinicnt in handling .the many difficulties i ■ , that had confronted them/lie first dif- ;• |ficultj; that the : Government had. to' face was', the unsatisfactory' condition -of" the' .finances. When "it r !camo into office frio outlook was bad 'and money was scarce'and' dear. This : was,not. the only trouble at that time' ' ' 'as there wero,- industrial troubles to • . face. When tie GQvernment assumed . control.of tho Dominion's affairs the .Waihi and Reeftoii strikes .were in i*';.. progress. ' . The Reefton strike was soon ; -settled, but that' at Waihi lasted, for ft : long time. However, they, got over that. Their next: trouble was the socalled smallpox epidemic amongst the Maoris last year. ; He did not know \ whether: it'.was' smallpox or not, but '.- liho effect that it had upon the'finances ; - ;l and trade, of the country was...scarcely 1 credible. 'No one could over tell to r. what extent the revenue of the railways -and other -Departments was really affected by • tho-epidemic. The outbreak also had an effect on the settle- . mc-nt of Native lands as it necessitated : the: prohibition of meetings of assempled- 'owners-.in' oonnectioii '.with' Na- : xive landtransactions. However, in course of time they got rid of -Rio epi-; ' ~ demo, but no sooner were they free of r; :thait than they were confronted with the big strike of 1913. -y. : >;: Outbreak of the War. : As sooii as the Dominion was get- :;• ting over the effect of the strike, the ; 'European war came upon them like a 1 thunderclap. The population at fi'rst ; - I nvas.-' almost: stunned," by the 'outbreak' < i-:ofy ; the great'.conflict, hut: it had got : , "y c r the effect of the shock and the j ■: "business .' of tlie coimtrry - was ; tiow be.»inw.'carried 'on as - usual. - '. : Referring to New Zealand's share in ■ ; , the -war Mr. Massey , said New Zealand soldiers had been the first to oc- : , cupy tho enemy's territory. (Applause:) ; ' ihe taking of Samoa had beeii a blood- [•■: Jess victory,,but it,had not been taken < |. . withoiit a great deal of risk and dan- ! v fcer. After the, first expeditionary .! : force had gone to Samoa the ijoveni- i ; ' '.jrient commenccd to organise the' big i i -expeditionary force. Few people real- ; -. 'ised tlie enormous'amount of work in- .; i Tolvcd in the: .organisatidri'. of the ex- '- jr. jpeditionary ~ forces.'. '■ However, it , i had.been' accomplished, and\he was i satisfied, the men would give a good account of themselves: when they reach- ,, e'i the scene of operations. (Cheers;) ■ { : iiglitirifr foivthe Empire* they were , > fighting for themselves because nrior i , to tho declaration of war it. liad "been , ■ stated by > German officers that •in the > ( - event: of hostilities Germany would . take possession of Now Zealand and ■ ' 'Australia which would become German ! : coiojiiea. , '

. A voice: Rot. ; ' : ;.- -Mi.-Massey: I; t'liink so too! The ; British Navy and Army would have a , good deal to say before that happened. A Good Business' Recovery. Proceeding, the Primo Minister silid : that at the outbreak, of. tho war busi- . -Hess had been paralysed, but- now it wa 3 back to normal. There .was at first a great cry of unemployment, but even - that had almost come to an end; there woro rery few unemployed now. (An- . pi3ii.se.) oo far as the Government vis concerned, lie hoped and believed r tlie\ would be ablo to keep public v .workv . going. Tho.v had more Jicn oil now than for years past, and ; :-iho_ believed tlioy would be able to keep this up. In that respect New Zealand was much better off than som&of the ■ other Dominions. In Now South Wales according to official returns, there-were , thousands of men on public Works only ; -".working,throe days a week, and lie'sin- : jjore.ly , hoped and believed nothing like ; .that would ever take place 111 this country. (Applause.) Loan money was .- much moro difficult to obtain than it ' was.before the. war,'but later he was hopeful of being able to obtain enough for requirements, aiid to go on quietly. Demand for Primary Products. The outlook for our primary'products had never been better than at present, and there was a tremendous demand : for New Zealand meat, but also for ; wool . and every other product which i this country was in the habit of send- ! in,;; away. There had been. difficulties r. in connection with the kauri gum and ; flax industries; the former had, however. to a certain extent . revived, though the price was not yet what it was' before the war. The Government had arranged in the case of gum being ■unsaleable, and of gum-diggers'wishing to go on- digging the gum, to advance - :a- portion of the value at which it stood s.Mirior to the war. (Applause.) As a result 'there was no chance now of giim- ! diggers swelling the ranks of the un-

employed: They would like to do tho same for the flax industry, but it was much more difficult to liandlo and to manage, Government's Other Arrangements. Referring to the other arrangements which tho Government had 'had to makei owing to the war, Mr. Massey mentioned the moratorium law, which rad been passed to obviate panic. Prior to the war- the greater part of New Zealand produco had been carried in insulated ships. : .'There had been a tremendous demand on' these ships for the transport. of soldiers from Australia and New Zealand and for .'Britain's own use, and ' this r? crea k'd an awkward situation. However, he was satisfied now that owing to the' arrangement made by the Government' there would be sufficient ships to take away tho whole of the country's produce for export up to the end of January. (Applause). All being well, the New Zealand transports would' be back here in February next. Ho had arranged with the Imperial Government to send those vessels back without delay, and if. necessary ..the, New Zealand Government would pay for their return |in ballast, rather than allow the industries of. the country to be hampered. (Applause.)

Mr. Massey went on to' outline what had been done to provide New Zealand with wheat and flour. In that connection'lie said that ,in addition to the quarter, of a million bushels ordered from Canada, he had been in negotiation with the Government of India for a similar quantity from' there. , That day he had telegraphed to Wellington giving instructions for an order for. 100,000 bushels; of wheat to be ordered from 1 India by way of an experiment.' Regulation of Prices.

In referring ;to the Food Commission, Mr. Massey said it was set up not to interfere with trade,'but to. prevent the exploitation of the people. He had asked the Commission to investigate sugar prices. ,The Commission had reported that the Colonial Sugar Company- had offered to give a. guarantee that 'the price of sugar should' not go beyond a reasonable price, as compared with the price countries. The only provision was that the Government should not take over the sugar works. Railway .Improvement Scheme.; Dealing with the railway prospects of the new '.General' Manager.-'(Mr. Hiley), the Prime Minister said that last season the Government -had' been deluged with complaints from all over New Zealand regarding insufficient rolling stock. In Mr. Massey's opinion, the Dominion was shorter of engines than anything else. In Auckland the accommodation for passenger traffic was bad enough, [but: they'_ were miles ahead: of the provisions • for the handling of, goods, which were shocking. Wellington was. probably .worse. The railway , business in ' Auckland' doubled in the last eight years, and in • all probability would double again in the next eight years. He believed iri branch and trunk railways, but if it was: not possible :to handle the goods at the termini they would soon be.in difficulties'. It .was'astonishing the amount ,of opposition Mr. Hiley's scheme had aroused in the House. On the division,, however, only 20 members of the House had had the courage of their opinions to rote-against'the Bill, and it was now tho law of tho land.

A voice: What about Arthur Myers? Mr. Massey: Oh, I am not . the keeper of Mr. .Myers's conscience. . Cood Commercial Outlook. Mr. Massey said that before the'outbreak of the war the Dominion was in a., particularly prosperous V condition, and -during the two years" that tlio present Government had been in offace the. exports had been increased by no less than five ; million pounds worth. When-the war came to an end, he believed ; that New Zealand, with- ' her enormous resources, her good climate, ■the industry'of her'.population,' and the many natural advantages,'.. would ; recover from the.-offects of, the war more rabidly than, any other portion, of the British Empire. (Applause.) Problem of Naval Defence. The Prime: Minister, then referred to tlio question': of naval defence, which he said should nob be 'treated as a party question; '' What had taken place during the last few weeks had convinced, the bulk, of the population tljat New Zealand -should do a great deal. more :'in regard to naval defence than we are now doing.: ,' (Hear, hear ) He . referred to what had takon place at_ Papeete,, and said that this, migirt have ■ happened to. any w i e 011 the seaboard of New Zealand; He referred to the non-com-pliance, Neither through inability or unwillingness, on .the part of the Home .Government with the Naval Agreement entered into in 1909, and said that although the present Government had offered to increase the annual subsidy bv £50,000 if the Imperial authorities would carry out the agreement, the otter did not have the desired effect. Duong the first few weeks'of the war . Aew Zealand had been greatly indebted to the Australian Navy for its valuable service to .New Zealand'in particular the Empire in, general.; (Applause.) Jle believed that we were now out . of the j wood, so far-a« the danger of immediate attack' by sea .was concerned,, hilt we .should profit -by the experience of tlie past few weeks. 'It would b© crimmal to allow the present state of tilings to He' was not going to quibble as to whether the ships should be Imperial-owned or New Zealand-' owned, but'the position must he faced. Ihe members of the present Government during the past few weeks had' had tremendous responsibilities upon ' their shoulders, and he for ons would not care to go through the same experience again. He repeated his previous reference to the debt of gratitude that we owed to the Australian Government for the protection that we have received from the ships of the Commonwealth Navy during the past few months. .(Hear, hear.) The New Eduoatlon Act. ;In ; speaking of; tlie new Education Act passed last _ session, Mr. Massey said that the object of the Minister of Education and the Government in introducing this measure was that New Zealand should become one of the best educated countries in the world. (Hear, hear.) This .was necessary if New Zealand was to hold her own in competition with the other countries of tlio world. In the past there had been a reluctance on the part of their young ,men to take up -the teaching profession, but the betterment in tlio condition of teachers which had been Irouglit about by the now Act would remove this reluctance and improve the lot of the teschers.

The Government's Pledges. Mr. Massey then dealt , with the charges made by the Opposition, that the present Government had not kept its election pledges. Save in two instances all pledges had been kept. In i j i P| ace > tt lo Government had pledged iteelf to keep borrowing within reasonable bounds, and to prevent wasteful expenditure. Tin's pledge had been kept.. The Government had also pledged itself to carry out a freehold and policy, and this pledge had also been kept. The present Government had provided settlers with all reasonable facilities for getting on the land on a satisfactory, tenure. The pledge in regard to the limitation of holdings had also been kept. ' , ° A voice: What'about tho advances to settlers? Did yon not vote against' that? . Mr. Massey: I did; for the very good reason that 1 was pledged to .vote jifiainst borrowinc in any shape or form.

i on i i ' vent kack to my cdnstituents and told them what 1 had done, they said: "Well done, good and faithful servant." (Laughter and applauso.) Native Lanil Legislation. The Government had' also, Mr. Massoy continued, kept its pledges in regard to Native land legislation. Its aim was to place the Natives in the same position as the Europeans, with tho same privileges and responsibilities, m, lvas "'hat they were doing, lliey wanted to ir.ako the, Natives good citizens of the Empire. The Maoris were taking up the responsibilities of Empire, and 500 of them were now be,,1112 trained for servico as soldiers. In tins connection he was glad to say that the Imperial Government now consented to allow tho whole COO to £o to the one destination instead of dividing them us at'first intended.

Other Promises Kept. Amongst other pledges kept, he continued, was that to reform the Legislative Council -by making it elective. Ho believed that the system of election provided for would prove more suitable than the Australian system.' The pledge in regard to Public Service Reform had also been kept. Tho Government had promised to provide for a reform of the-sys-tem of local government by an abolition of the present method of Parliamentary grants and a Bill to this effect had been introduced last session. Owing, however, to the delay occasioned by'the war it had been necessary to allow the Bill to stand over, but he hoped it would be passed .next session. In regard to town planning the Government had provided for all that v.'as necessary and he looked forward to doing something in this direction with the Orakei Estate, that would be a credit to the Dominion. The pledges in regard to amendments to the pension schemes ([including the' reduction of the qualifying age of women from Go to 60) had -been fulfilled. The pledge in to compulsory insurance against sickness and unemployment had- not been yet fulfilled, because' the Government desired to see the scheme introduced in Great Britain have a ™ir trial. The Government was also pledged to bring about industrial peace and it had gone a long way towards doing that by providing that no strike should take place without a secret ballot being taken under the supervision of Government officers. (Hear, hear.) Thus 'all the pledges except two had'-been kept. It was not reasonable to expect that during .the short term of one Parliament much more would have been done than to lay the foundation stone of a policy but the Government had ! done much more than that. (Applause.) j

Land Settlement Record. 1 'It had been stated by one member the other day that the present Government had not put'a single settler on t-ho land., (Laughter.) To show how incorrect this was,, he quoted from a (Departmental return showing that from July, 1912, to September 30, 1914, 2964 6ettlers had taken up land on settlement conditions, and that pastoral runs and_miscellaneous tenures accounted for 1690 more, making a\otal of 4548. In' audition. 289 persons had taken' up endowment" land leases. Tho total area of land opened for sale or, selection from July, 1912, to October 31, 1914,. was no fewer than 1,447,894 acres:' (Applause.) In its first session the Government. had provided for an increase of' the ;graduated land tax 0 n all estates of the value of £30,000 and over. The good effect of this was becoming apparent in the number of subdivisions. From April 1, 1912, to June 30, 1914, the total, number of subdivisions of rural land and land'made available for closer settlement' was 6196,..representing 1,125,678 acres, and ten estates bad been acquired for closer settlement. Altogether during the time the, Government had beeir in office 1,943,763 acres in . both -, privately-owned and • .Crown lands had been subdivided and settled. During, the year 1913-14 tlio area acquired by tlie Government for settlement was 141,062 acres,' as against only 13,399 acres in 1910-11, during the regime of tho late Government; '-Tho' total number of selectors who had purchased the fee simple ,of their leases under, the Acts passed by the Massey Government was 1411, tlie total area-in-volved being 262,792 acres, whilst the sum paid was £236,958. (Applause.)

Reform Covornment's Achievements. The' Prime Minister went on to refer to the'setting up' of the commission to inquiro into, the working of the Valuation Department. What the Government sought was taxation on fair valuations ,of property exempting the improvements: ' If it was "found .this was not being done now, he would take care, if returned to power, that it was done in the future. (Applause.) Since the Reform Government came into office ,they had set up a system: of workers' rural homes. Some of. these were in occupation, and in many cases the occupiers were doing well. In all, theire were four settlements in f ha-nd— two in the' North and two in the South Island. .. .

Referring to local bodies, Mr. Massey said, it was proposed next year to give municipalities and counties the opportunity of borrowing from the State for the purpose of workers' homes.. The previous- Government had in 6£ years erected 209 workers' homes, at a cost of £146,622; the. present Government by the end of the financial year, March 31 next, would have erected 345 workers' homes in 2;} years, at an expenditure of £101,632. As in the case of land settlement, therefore, he thought his Government's record was a particularly'good one. (Applause.) Tlie present Government had paid for . Native land in 1913 the sum of £61,029, and in 1914, £257,711.

Next Month's Liabilities. The Prime Minister proceeded to deal with the 'financial position, ' showing how tho Government , had improved it since they came into power. - Next month, he said, the. Government had to find £3,000,000 to pay to creditors in London iyho would neither convert nor renew their loans.

A voice: Well find it. I Mr. Massey: We lmvo found it. These lenders were speculators who wanted to force the New Zealand Governirient into the open .market, but they were not going to be forced into the open market. He could not tell them yet where the Government had got it, but they had got the money and the London creditors would bo paid that £3,000,000 011 the due date next month. (Applause.) Reference followed to the Government's action in raising the limits of tho borrowing powers of. settlers. Owing to tlie war these had had to he .cut down, but from now onward the limit to settlers would be £7-50, and he believed that in a few weeks it would be possible to raise the limit to £1000. (Applause.) Amount Lent by Government. In tho seven months from April 7 last the. Government Advances Department had lent to settlers the sum of £839,570, to workers £213,730, and to local authorities £135,325. In addition. there were sums advanced by tho Public Trust and the Government Insurance Offices. ■ - The Prime Minister then briefly re- ' viewed his Government's legislation for the workers, mentioning tllio increase of £120,000 per annum in wages to railway workers and of £48,000"to public servants. ; Choice Before the Electors. Concluding a speech of about an hour and. three-quarters, Mr. Massey said: "We arc now on the eve of the general elections, and it is for the people lo choose who shall conduct public affairs. On the one side you have a set of. imen able, sincere, straight-going, and upright, who have.

been criticised, but with whom .no serious fault can bo found—(loud cheers)— . men who are not perfect, for they have "iKSva mistakes—and you have got. to chooso sietwoen theso men and a set of men who, if they secure a majority, will have to pipe to the tune played to them by six or eight Red Feds. (Cheers and ironical laughter.), I. leave it to the people, and I have not the slightest. doubt they will chooso fairly and well." (Renewed cheers.) Confidence Heartily Expressed. A vots of thanks to the Prime Minister and ef confidence in him and in the Government was moved by a member of the audience and promptly seconded, and loud cheers testified to the popularity of tho motion. • A' venturesome person who called for three cheers for Sir Joseph Ward was energetically howled down, some one remarking of tho Leader of the Opposition, ''Oh, lie is 'Otinted out." On the motion being puv it was carried amidst a storm of cheering, about half a dozen dissentient voices being raised.