THE GENERAL ELECTION

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2314, 23 November 1914, Page 6

THE GENERAL ELECTION

POSTAL CONCESSIONS

CAMPAIGN POINTS. NEWS NOTES ■ AND ; ADDRESSES AND PRESS COMMENTS. ;

/ 'Ait his Plimnierton meeting on Friday night Mr. R. A. Wright emphasised a point in connection with the old age pension scheme. When such persons, he said, as Mr. Wilford, Sir Joseph Ward, Mr. Hanan, Mr. Sidey, and Mr. Colvin voted against the late Mr. T. E. Taylor's proposal .to abolish the penalties' imposed upon' thrifty] industrious, and deserving aged colonists; who were deprived of the benefits of the old age pension scheme because they were possessed of a home valued at v £22o, the Reform Party voted with Mr. Taylor, and his/proposal would have beenccarr r ried if the present Opposition Party •had risen to the occasion.'

■This .little bouquet is presented to the Leader of the Opposition from tho West Coast, once a stronghold of the party now led by Sir Joseph 'Ward:— "The public are irresistibly reminded of the extraordinary Speech placed by' Sir Joseph Ward in the hands .of- .the Governor in February, 1912. in/ the despairing hope that a well-simulated death-bed repentence would save him from.the just retribution which befell him' at the last election. The country ~. .". asked why in the previous' six years the: Speeches from the Throne had con-' tairied .nothing. The-rquestion remains unanswered to-day."

The position the Government was placed in\in this matter was; he said, a very: difficult one, but Mr. Massey had instinctively done the right thing, and the only thing possible to keep the .price of wheat'and flour within reasonable limitsi—Hon. J. Allen, at Lawrence. .

' Economists were in substantial agreement as to two common causes—namely, the increased supply of money, including gold and credit, which appeared to 'have out-stripped the increase ■ in the volume of goods; and. the slackened rate of production of food-stuffs in- older countries) which were more and.more ; turning ■ their attention .to industrial and manufacturing enterprises. There were' also other causes, at work, such as monopolies and trusts, arid a'higher standard-of comfort. The .road which they must .travel to reach a solution of that' question, was a long and arduous cue,-and while they might mitigate the intensity of the problem by taxation,:by more industrial education and other expedients,: the chief-thing to beware of was the short-cut methods of impatient extremists.—Mr: W: Downie "' Stewart, ' Reforhi candidate for Dunedin West. ,

■: The Opposition and their allies—the Socialists—are oi'ow pecking at: one' another, in; thei Palmerstori North electorate. The. other evening, Mr. J. Thorn; the. Socialist candidate, for the seat, told .ail audience that ;two. years agoj "whenliberalism was at a low ebb, Mr. Crabb had left it arid joined the United Labour Party.' Now he had unfurled his banner'as the Liberal candidate,, and had assured the Carpenters' Union that sooner or later,the -Liberal Party must join the Tory Party, and when that day came, he would leave it. "A .. fair-weather friend,"- said Mr. Thorn. '■'.:-■ .....

.Reform candidates in various parts of are experiencing difficulty in obtaining halls large enough', to accommodate all ivho wish .to hear them apeak.. It was;found necessary to close the. : doors'at',a quarter to.eight' when Mr. T.H. Dalto'n, Reform candidate for Duhedin South, delivered his first political' address,; and many people were closed out. . '■■■'■■"

Sir Joseph Ward-is making, a great point in his election speeches of what ho claims as the. saving per" annum in interest on the public indebtedness that was effected by the party, which he leads when ho. was in. power. The fact that tho average rate of interest fell during the period that is'mentioned is simply due'(as the "Otago Daily Times" points out)'to a: general.fall .in the price of money. No Government' in any of the Dominions can claim credit for tho fact that the'money market of the world became considerably easier in the course, of a score of years any more than any Government in the Dominions is responsible for the'fact that the price of money has advanced since the outbreak of the present war.

As long aS'we demanded all the privileges we- did, it would be impossible to reduce'the expenditure of Departments.—Mr. G. J. Anderson,.M.P., at Gore. : '- '.;\ - '■-,

.Mr. W. H. Field,, the Reform candidate for Otaki, is meeting with ex-, cellent receptions at the different places where he speaks. Tile Horowhenua '•Clirbnicle"_ remarks that Mr. Field was ever wideawake to. the necessities of the' electorate, and' he gained- many grants for public works, when he represented the Otalri,electorate'in the House.

• It is the duty of the country to return to power a body of men.who will not veer with the wind of popular applause,, but .will calmly do what they conceive to be their duty to the whole population without fear or favour. As a, member, of .the Reform Party, as well as for his strong personal "qualifications,, Mr. Anderson is entitled to a renewal of support.-T-The Mataura "Ensign," writing of Mr. G. J. Anderson's candidature.

What price would Sir Joseph Ward bo called upon to pay for the Red Feds' support, if their votes 'sent him back to office but not to power, with a majority made, up-by half a dozen SocialDemocrats? W.e imagine that tho price would not be paid in ono instalment. An independent journal has suggested that Mr. Semple's office would be the real Cabinet room, ?nd that would certainly not be. disagreeable to the wishes of, the Social Democrats.- j -"Timaru Herald." , -..

Mr. G. W. Russell had criticised the Government's action with regard to the big estates. But he 'himsqlf had 60,000 acres of freehold in the country.—-Re-form' candidate for Dunedin South' (Mr. T. H. Dalton). • '

The "Liberals" expect to reach office with the aid of the Red Feds., and-they know, and everybody else knows, that in euch a case they - would hold office only by,the grace of the Red Fed. section of-the party. If a majority of the electors feel that it will be a good thing to place the Federation of Labour in the position of being able to. direct the" affairs of the country through their power, to turn, the "Liberals" out, the present Government must make the best ,of- the matter.—Cliristchurch "Press." '

As regards land settlement, Sir Joseph Ward said that special care would be taken to provide access by means of roads and railways to tho backblocks. i If there was'-one thing the 'late Gov--oaunenj asajlpjptod to da it jr.as tho roadaJ

ing of the backblocks, especially in.tho North Island.—Mr. G. M. Thomson, M.P. .....

J The Opposition has a right to choose its own allies, and its agreement with the Red Feds.' is quite in.keeping with the ac'tionß of its recent past. After the Waihi strike had shown what the Federation of Labour standi for, the Liberals supported. Mr. Webb and Mr. M'Combs for the. seats of Grey and Lyttelton. Their leading journals claimed that there was no essential difference between the aspirations of tie Red Federation and.tho Liberal Party, and that the "Progressives" must march side' by .'side. Tho national strike, conducted by the Federation of .Labour, did not in any way disturb this harmony. It furnished, instead, the strongest inducement to the Social Democrats, who had previously treated the professions of their "fellow Progressives" .with the utmost scorn, to join forces with the Liberals for the sake of putting out of office the Government which had manfully overcome the greatest danger with which.the peace and industries of the Dominion had been threatened during twenty years—Timaru "Herald."

"Mr. Isitt cannot, support the'refer-, endum on the Bible-in-schools.proposals because -'it compels men to,vote for what they do not believe, in order to gdt what they want.' For the greater part of his life, Mr. Isitt has been strongly m favour of the referendum on the liquor question, which' compels men to vote for Prohibition in order to get rid of the evils incidental to the sale of liquor by the licensed trado in its present ■ form. _ With many persons the liquor question is quite as much a matter of conscience as the Bible in schools, and it would be interesting to know, how Mr. Isitt' can argue that, the referendum is right in one- instance and wrong m the other."—Christchurch "Sun."

The country cannot afford to have a weak Government at this time. It cannot afljord to have more, strikes. It cannot, as a whole, have much, sympathy with the Darty whose official organ, the "Maorilarid' Worker," as recently as; October 7 was ridiculing the National Anthem, audi deploring that "we.live in_ an age of 'Gor Save.'" Many Opposition candidates must suffer from the fact that..votes for them might mean, not Government, but a Liberal-Rnd Fed. Government.—-Timaru "Herald." . . , .

Mr; R. B.- Williams is announced as a candidate for. the Wellington South seat. At the last General Election Mr. Williams was a candidate for Wellington Suburbs.' .'•;,..•■

. The Auckland supplementary Tolls are not yet complete, ■ but on the Registrar's estimates; the seven rolls, when complete, will carry about 72,800 names as'compared with 64,051 in 1911. The mam rolls, as compared with 1911, showed a decrease of 7000, but the totals of the . supplementary rolls more .than compensated for that loss. The district rolls compare with '1911 as follows:—City Central,' decrease -of 1700' City East, increase of 400; West, increase, of 1400; Grey Lynn,: increase of 1750; Mariuknu, '2000; Parnell, 1600• Waitemata, 1700;' Eden, 3000.—Press Association. . -...■■ \ '

Mr. A. M.' Samuel, Reform candidate for Hutt, will.deliver a political address this evening at Petone. ' -

Attention is drawn to an advertisement m reference to Dr. Newman's address to the electors at Kilbirnie Hall on Wednesday next.

It has been said that' the Government has done nothing for Labour. The member who made this statement (says Hie 'Grey River Argus") must have done so-in a reckless moment; for we now i give a list of Labour reforms which have been accomplished by the Reform Government in spite of and not with-the aid of, the Labour'memfw °J t I IO firsttinl 6 in the history of. New-Zealand a minimum • waee-has been established in the Public Service The prinewle of a fair day's pay fo'r a fair day s work has been recognised and in the increases the Government has effected the' following improvements:— - '.'. ' ■', .' / - -Per annum. . £ n\ Z° }£* ail 7 a y employees 94,564 (o) Jo the school teachers....... '29 00(1 (c) To the Police 18 000 ilm° $ 6 5? S S ~ nd T el«graph 43',000 ■ {fit lo the Civil Servants,.....'. 51,600

ANNOUNCEMENT BY MR, RHODES. (By . Teleirraph-Frass Jisociation.l .. Chrlstchuroh, November 22. at Springston, the Hon. R. Heaton Rhodes said that as PostmasterGeneral he had been able to make a good many important concessions to tho public, with the view of: extending tho usefulness of the important service's he controlled. They would probably remember the difficulty that wae experienced in many places in getting provisions, even necessaries of life, particularly on the West Coast during tho in<u ?- a i tr ° ub ' es of last year. To meet the difficulty he temporarily, raised the lfflh +om WC[ sf ° f parce,s imm 10 b. to 211b., and he was glad to bo able-to announce there for tho first time that on December 1 an important amendment of the Parcel-post Regulations would come into force in time for tho Christmas traffic, providing for the extension of the limit of weight of parcels from lllb. to 281b. For p \ I aCBE served bj rail or steamer. The rates would be 3d. for tho first pound lid tor each additional pound up to 'l3lb ' T'Uf f ?J, . each P oun ' d from 131b. up to yaib. this, amendment of the regulation also provided for givin* to tho sender, without charge, an acknowledgment of posting, and the.taking of a receipt from tho addressee' for each parcel delivered—instead of for cortain classes of parcels only, and tho institution of an express service, ensuring specially Tapid dispatch of all parcels on which special fee was paid. ' A good deal, 'said Mr. Rhodes,• had been said by the Opposition, no doubt for party purposes, about the system adopted by the Government in connection with the preparation of the electoral rolls, but a return he had just received showed that in nearly every electorate the numbers on the rolls were largely in excess of those on tho old rolls. He found that whereas the Canterbury rolls' as purged according ,to law' after the 1911 elections showed 74,253 electors, the present rolls up to November 18 showed 87,328, an increase of over 17 per cent.