THE HON. F. M. B. FISHER AT ARO STREET

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2323, 3 December 1914, Page 6

THE HON. F. M. B. FISHER AT ARO STREET

,■" A LIVELY■MEETING. ■ A crowded and spirited meeting was addressed by the Hon. I' , . M. B. I'isher m the Aro Street Mission Hall.. The seating .accommodation .and all the' standing room in the hall and the approaches were crowded.' .In spite of this hundreds did not gain, admission. It was obvious at the outset, that there were foes as well, as friends in tho audience. Air. Fisher was greeted with loud/cheers and applause , when he entered the room, drowning a determined chorus of "booing." Mr., Fisher was given a satisfactory , hearing. Mr. D. 1 , . Skinner presided..'..Mr. Fisher was interrupted steadily and regularly and .noisily., at" the outset. To the. interjectcrs ■he retorted that although his opponents had always sought,to oppose to him the strongest candidates they could find,'he had-sur-vived all the coiiiests. In the:end Mr l?isher ? by nq means perturbed by-the attentions of the noisy one's, contrived to.- give 'an- account oh the .administration of the Government, and of his '''share in the work done. Hβ referred in some detail to the-negotiations he had conducted with the Commonwealth Government regarding reciprocal tariff and reciprocal pensions. Ho spoke of the steps taken by him. as Minister of Marine to foster the fiehihg industry, the initial step being the obtaining of a report on the-Now Zealand fisheries from Professor Prince] Commissioner of Fisheries, for the Dominion of Canada. He silenced,derisive interjections by enunciating the many- things .the' Government had done for the workers, adding also that the Government: had .increased the pay of school- teachers by £106,000 a year,:the' salaries'of vthe railway. (service by £49,000, the pay of ,the Post and Telegraph Department by £50,000, and the pay of the Police Force by £18,000... (Applause.)-. The Got.erhment had also -brought down the Industrial Disputes -Investigation : Bill, which had given the- workers a right they never had beforo, the right to take a secret ballot beforo going, on strike. -This would do away with intinudation in strikes. The Government had amended' the -law relating- ,to the National Provident Fund:'to enable local bodies to make use of it to establish superannuation-funds,-for their e'raployeos. ■ Proportional representation, which wa.a a plank in the platform of the LabourPartv, had received a greater advance under the regime of the present Government than it had ,ever had previously. Local bodies had been given power to have their members elected by proportional ropresentatiion if they chose, arid in the'Legisk'tivo Council Bill it was provided that, in future members should be elected by proportional representation.;." For the first time payment for.overtime in the Public Service liad been arranged for/by this Government. -Hβ detailed also the concessions given to employees, and other. reforms made! in the Government Printing Office "under his administration. ' ... ■'•■ Hβ referred at some length to a printed document called "An open letter to;E. 'M,.:8. Fisher by W. T. Young." It dealt largely: with the suspension of a clause in the Shipping and Seamen Act at the time of the'strike. ,■

. Speaking of tho Huntly disaster, lie pointed out that the first "report of an explosion in the mine was made only in January, 1914, and that -the ;first report ever made to ' the ; Minister of an explosion was made after the House met,this year. Mr. Jolm Dowgray, a prominent Social Democrat, was a member of the Huntly Commission, and he had, never, said one wordi suggesting that any blame was attachable to the Government for the disaster. He argued that had the existing law been observed by the inspectors or the men, or the company, the accident would not. hav.e' happened.' On no ground oould anything be ■ charged against: the present Administration. If the opponents of the Government had no stronger charge to make against- the Government than that arising out of the Huntly disaster after two and a half years, then he' thought' the opponents, of the Government had nothing to complain qboufl. (Applause.) Hβ hoped that when the numbers went up the Government would come back stronger than :ever.- (Applause and counter demonstration.) ~ In renjy to a question, he denied that he had ever mado a statement that "he 'knew the men up against him were those who wore the dungaree trousors." ':

The iiret motion moved was one of no confidence, quickly followed by an amendment of confidence. Thero were "Jemonstrations in both cases, but the cheers of Mr. Fisher's friends were by far the greater in volume, and the more prolonged.*,. A show of hands was called for and taken, but no attempt 'was made to count the , votes.