CANDIDATES' SPEECHES

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2308, 16 November 1914, Page 7

CANDIDATES' SPEECHES

TflE OTAH SEAT MR. FIELD STATES HIS POSITION. ~ Mr. W. H. Field, the Reform candidate for the Otalci seat, addressed a very large and enthusiastic meeting of electors at Otaki on Thursday night, says out special correspondent. Mr. F. Hortoh Bright (chairman of the Town Board) presided. • Mr.- Field, who wa-s greeted l with applause, said that when* he first entered Parliament he entered as a supporter of the late Mr. Seddon, andjiad never regretted it. When he had agreed to! support Mr. Seddon he had retained the right to vote again6t him on the land question, and had voted against Sir Joseph Ward also on the matter. When Mr. Robertson (Labour) was .returned, he voted against Mr. Massey on a motion. He (the speaker) had always held a high opinion of Mr.;Masseyj and had\ advocated that in consequence of good work done as Leader ,of the then Oppositioh, he be granted £1000.. As time went on the Massey Government built a bond for 'developing a policy which he and others had placed on the Statute Book, - and Several of the mfeasures were adopted holus' bolus .by the Primd , Minister. About the middle of 1913 he (Mr. Field) lad .received a letter from the Liberal .Party, and Mr. Russell, member for Avon, had waited on him and asked him -.to leave the Otaki-seat alone and thus give Mr. Robertson, who had been useful, a; free run.-\lt-was suggested:- that he, stand for the' Wellington East or Suburbs Stat. He refused, and said that the only seat he would contest was Otaki, stating that he wished,to defeat Mr. Robertson, who had wrested the seat.from hi'm in 1911. He pointed out to Mr. Russell that llis mind was made, tip'on the point, and that tho party could do as it wished.. He intimated his intention of talcing an independent stand. When he was in Parliament there were no Red Feds or' Social Democrats; and he considered it the duty of~every moderate to endeavour to prevent men of stich pehSuasibii being returned. 1

The Governhient Nominee. Mr: Massoy had asked him (Mr. Field); ifi he would stand as a Government candidate if promised its support. He, said he was willing, to stand As ah Independent, and Mr. Massey said if so the Government ttdiild him, so he had. become the Reform'candidate: without joining the, party. As the election approached he' saw that Mr. Massey was''anxious tio adopt him as a candidate, and, after conferring with several <jf his old supporters, they agreed he should stand for one side or the other Ho acquiesced. Ho had never asked for Mr. Massey's support, but had agreed to support him: on. a np-confidence. motion. Later, Reform meetings were held in the Otaki electorate, in which the electors themselves took a hand. After reading newspaper reports, he had intimated his willingness to stand dowii from the' seat. if; anyone else' was Preferred. It was eventuallyresolved that the matter should be. left to Cabinet to decide. He had written, stating that' h6 would willingly "agree ,'to'the decision ,of Cabinet and would cheerfully stand down 'if it so decided. On October. 23 he received a letter'stating he had been accepted. (Applause.) No one could sayhe, had acted unfairly, and he was surprised to find that Mr. Brown was 'dissatisfied. '

The Candidate's Views. I , Dealing .with, his platform, Mr. Fifeld said that it was the same as Mr. Massey's. - He dealt fully with the charges made that the Government had not fulfilled their promises, and referring Ito the late strike said that they had had an';example of the Red-Fed. tactics, and the people now knew what it was to have . tnef waterfront tied up and mob rule. The Red Feds, had threatened the' farmers, arid' there was hii doubt that if the strike had continued much longer several farmers would have been ruined.'. It was to the. credit 'of the farmers; that they themselves had taken a hand, in matters, . The strike alone should make every man. and woman ponder over Red' Fed. -politics, and'he maintained it would Be disastrous if the' Opposition got into power with the Labour members. : .

The Government, he would admit, had made blunders in some rebpects. H3 had been against the Government on the Public Servite Commissioners' scheme arid naval policy, but; during the past weeJc or two .had ..partially changed his mind, and he pointed out that had it not been for the. Australian fleet the German cruisers would probably have damaged the country. : .-' ' i.." Oiist the Present Member. ' In : conclusion Mr.' Field again stated he had no wish to force himself on the electors, but he had-been Assured that he cotild win the seat [ arid, further, he .was .desirous 'of ousting the. present member. He maintained that in private life he was better,off, but, now that he was out' he hoped to win. ' Ho was never satisfied with what the old Liberal Government had done for the district. If he could not win, he preferred that Mr: Gardetier, should be the member.. He would' request, that' a vote of thanks only be accorded him, and let the confidence vote be on polling day. In reply to questions, l Mr. Field said ho considered tho Government was the friend of the working class; that the '£47,000 was saved by the Civil Service Commissioners without injuring any of tho servants. He was entirely in pathy with loanß to workers and ee(> tler3, but pointed orit that the stringency of the money market had ham-.-pared patters. He favoured the Gov-,, ernmerit tenant/in preference to a free- ■ holder getting money. • The_ strike had been a great expense, arid it was possible part: might have- been saved. He considered shipping companies unduly protected themselves and .thought they should be made liable if. accidents occurred by, negligence. , On.the inotion of. Mr. W. Fisher, seconded by Mr, H. Freeman, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded' Mr. Field for his able and interesting address. This was greeted with shouts of ayes, noes, and applause, followed by cheers.

THE SUBURBS SEAT. MR. R. A. WRIGHT AT NORMAN-, DALE.

The Suburbs campaign, was continued on Saturday evening by Mr. R. A. Wright, who spoke at tjje schoolroom,. .Nonnandale. The chair was occupied by Mr. Bell, who referred to the public work already standing to Mr. Wright's credit, and bespoke for him a fair hearing. Mr. Wright, who was received with applause, dealt largely with the objection raised that the Government had done nothing for Labour. Tho speaker detailed the work which tho Government had done, and contended that it was incorrect to say tho Government had neglected labour matters. He pointed out that more workers' homes had been erected under the present Government in two years and a half than their predecessors had erected iii six years. This was evidence that the Government liad earnestly endeavoured to assist workers to secure their own homes. Replying to questions, the speaker said that as far as he knew no I member of tho present Government shares ip, tho .Union Steam Shij^

Company. Hb denied that the waterside workers wore looked out last year. They went Out oh strike because when they returned froih the stop-work meet: ing and demanded to be allowed to continue the identical job they were working at'the previous evening they were told that other union men were filling these positions, but in due course work wtiuld b(5 found for them. This Offer was refused, and the strike followed. A vote of thanks and confidence in the

speaker-Was carried, an ameildmcnt of thanks only being defeated by a narrow majority. DR. M'NAB AT HASTINGS. : (By Tdegrapli.—PreSs Association,) , Hastings, November 14. •Dr. M'Nab, Liberal candidate for Hawke's Bay, addressing a crowded meeting iii th& Princess Theatre last night, _ Said he approved the Legislative Council Bill l providing for proportional representation. When "it wiis thoroughly understood a great deal of the opposition to that, system would disappear in the Lower House. He severely criticised, the Government for abolishing the Second Ballot, without substituting a better systetii, and also for legislating to deprive 'seamen of the privilege of selecting the electorate in which to vote, to save the Hon; F. M. B. Fisher. He accused the Government of going on with railway construction in supporters' electorates and stopping construction on the Hawke's Bay-Gisborne line. He urged; the heed for the country preserving intact nine million acres of endowment lands, and pointed out that the M'Nab Land Bill included a clause* giving holders of lease-in-perpetuity lands tho right to convert to the freehold. Therefore Mr. Massey was wrong in claiming to be, the first to give this right. He said that as a means of breaking up large estates trustees should be compelled to hand over to the State land equivalent in value to the ataount paid in death duties. He dealt at length with Mr. Allen's loan prospectus, saying that in one swoop Mr. Alien abandoned twenty-one years' contention regarding surpluses. In local option he favoured the 65 per cent, majority. He Was against thd Bible-in-Sclioola referendum. Religious instruction should riot be the work of teachefs. Referring to Huhtly he said it was too serious a matter to suggest that any member of Cabinet was guilty of. manslaughter, but he thanked God that all the faults of the Ward Government never resulted' in 43 men losing, their lives. He claimed that the Liberal Party was the author of the present defence system, and that he was the man who enabled the Defence Act to be put oii the Statute Book.. - On resutning his seat Dr. M'Nab was loudly applauded. The following resolution was carried with few dissentient voices"That this-meeting -accords a hearty .vote of thanks to Dr. M'Nab for, his able address, and expresses confidence in him and the Liberal Party."

THE PAHIATUA SEAT. . Pahlatua, November 14. Mr. J. D. .Matthews, the official Liberal candidate, bad a good hearing at his meeting hero. ■ He conteiuded that the present Government had not done anything at all to help settlement along. Steps should,, be taken to force the breaking-up of big estates. He strongly supported the present system of secular education, and advocated that teftchferß should .be paid according to ability and llot on attendance. He condemned Mr. Hiley's railway appointment, and declared that Civil. servants were discontented. He believed that if Sir Joseph Ward had 1 beeh in. power the Admiralty and Naval Agreement would have been, carried • out. The Reform Government had .not carried out its pledges, and the settlers found■: difficulty in: getting advances; A vote of thanks and confidence was carried Unanimously.

MR: ESCOTT'S CAMPAIGN. Woodvllle, November 14. Mr. Esdo'tt addressed the electors here last night, and had a .fair hearing from a medium attendance of electors. He dealt with the past actions of the Government, arid said he would deal with the future polioy at another meeting. In reply to questions, he said he was in favour-of a referendum-, the conscience clatiss; for teachers, and ih6 Nelson' system. He was not in favour of the Bible-in-Schools League's platform. He favoured the railway servants' demands. The cindidite expressed his indignation at the attempt to fasten the responsibility for the Huntly disaster on the Government. He was not in favour of running a Government TatterSall's sweep.. A vote of thinks and confidence in hind and the Government was declared parried.

OTAGO CENTRAL. '• Dunedln, November 16. Mr. Soott addressed the electors of Otago Central at Naseby last night. He defended the Government's policy and administration; On the licensing question he said he 1 would support the 55 per cent, majority so long as the present law .was otherwise unaltered.He opposed the Bible in schools. The speaker wis accorded a hearty vote of thanks. TO-NIGHT'S MEETINGS. Mr. R. A. Wright, at Ngahaurarigaj 8 p.m. '-. Mr. W. H. Field, at Paekakaiiki, 8 p.m. Mr. J. E. Fitzgerald, at Island Bay, 8 p.m. TO-MORROW-NIGHT'S MEETINGS. Mr. J. E. Fitzgerald, at Tawa Flat,. 8 p.m. OTHER MEETINGS. . Hon. F. M. B. Fisher, Town Hall, Wednesday, 8 p.m. , Mr. W. H: Tarnbull, 27 Panama.. Street, to-night/ to form committeeia. Mrs. Turnbullmeets ladies at 112 Tinakori Road, at 3 p.m. to-day. •7 Mr. R. A. Wright, Tawa Flat, Thursday. ■ •

Europe's oldest royai woman. Queen Mary's aiirit, the Grand Duchess Augusta Caroline of MecklenburgStretlitz, may have to economise from now on, the British Government having just cancelled the pension of £3000 a year which as a member of the English Royal Family, the Grand Duchess has draira from the British* Exchequer for exactly 71 years. This action on tho part of. the Government, which was announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the House of Commons this week (writes a London correspondent of September 26), has been taken under the Trading "With the Enemy Emorgency Act, which forbids payments to a person living in tho country of tho enemy. 'Its moral effect on the wonderful old Grand Duchess, who, at 92, is still surprisingly brisk, is likely, however, to be greater than the aotual loss of the money.'

Up to the time of King Edward's death, the Grand Duchess kept up a regular correspondence with htm, and with several other crowned heads, including the Kaisor and the Emperor of Austria, and her collection of letters from royal personages of one degree and another is one of the most remarkablo that ever has been got together. For many years past, too, Her Royal Highness has collected a considerable mass of material regarding the inner liistory of the Royal houses with which she is connected either by descent or marriage. It always has been understood that at her death these papers are to pass into the possossionof Queen Mary, and. it will then be left to Her Majosty to determine how far they shall be mado public. The Grand Duchess also possesses a wonderful collection of miniatures, painted on ivory, of members of the Royal Houses of Europe, and it has been understood that these, too, would likowise become eventually the property of Queen Mary., Now, howj*vor» ia ftot W fjspi