THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2325, 5 December 1914, Page 8

THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION

ADDRESS IN TOWN HALL A QUIET MEETING Sir Joseph Ward, Leader of the Opposition, addressed a crowded meeting in the Town Hall last night, and was allowed to speak, without interruption. Mr. C. M. Luke presided. Sir Joseph Ward, who had> been cheered when he camo forward on the stage, waa given another ovation when he rose •to speak. . ' ' Optimism—and the Rolls. Sir Joseph Ward said that, judging by the manifestations of warmth shown towards his party, it was evident that that party would be returned to power on December 10. The present Government party had been trying for a long time to.make water run uphill, and it was impossible for them again to redirect the current of public opinion tofavour a party which had not got into power.by the vote of the people, but by the treachery of certain members returned with a mandate to 6upport the Liberal Party, from which mandate they had never been relieved. Ho declared that lately things had been dono in connection with tho rolls which were a disgrace to anybody concerned. He referred especially to the enrolment, of men under wrong designations, and the transferring of men from one roll to another. It was assuredly the duty of the Government to find out whether any officers of tho Government were lending themselves to practices of this sort. He spoke also of the removal of the Territorials from the forts at the entrance to Auckland Harbour, saying that the reason for their removal was that these young men, being dissatisfied with their treatment, had openly expressed their intention of voting against the Government. Now these men were removed from the district in which they were enrolled, and the. presumption was that before polling day they would be scattered and would not vote.

Hβ said that the party that - had taught people to interrupt at meetings was tho Reform Party. , "Why," he said, "they are talking and. yelping and howling. about Red Feds. As a. matter of fact at my meeting at Pukehohe the other night thero were seven or eight motor cars that camo from distant portions of the electorate that contained a selection of men who were opposed to me in politics, and they got in bands of 15 or 20. Some call them the 'Well Feds.' I call them the 'Han Haus. , They are the Reform Red Feds, that came to create a spurious impression of the opinion of the people of that part of the country." (Applause.) '.••■' A Pledge. "I publicly pledge our party that Wβ 'will put proportional representation on the Statute Book," he said. When this became 1 law there would be no possibility of vote-splitting. To those candidates, who were risking, the loss of a seat by splitting votes he made' a final appear on the lines of previous addresses. ( "A Taste of Batons." "What a difference between this and the last general election," he Eaid with some show of ■ satisfaction. ■ At last election the Dreadnought gift had been iispxl against him, universal training and borrowing had been used against him. Mow tho Ministers were going about tho country "twisting their bodies" and "breaking their'jaws" to make out that their borrowing was less than that of the Liberai Party. A voice: It is a lie. ■ Sir J. AVard: You aro quite right, although I couldn't say that, of course He accused the Government of having failed with their \ settlement policy, having bought land of poor quality, leaving rich squatters in undisputed possession of largo ■ holdings , of rich laud. . ..',...'.. •' ■ ; Advances to Workers, The Government had sent out a circular to show to the workers that under the Massey Government in. one and a half years £498,075 had been '.he amount of State Advances to Workers, while under the Ward Government in five years the amouut advanced was £363,223. The contrast in favour, of the Massey Government in one and a half years was very great indeed, as compared with the five years of the Ward Government. But the Government forgot that they, had laid on the table of tho House this last session a return- which showed that the correct amount of the advances of the Ward Government was £1,816,185. (Applause.) A Minister had said in Wellington, that Mr. Massey had brought in the advances to workers' scheme in 1906. The statement was absolutely contrary, to fact.' Mr. Seddon had brought down in his last Governor's 1 Speech a proposal relating to State Advances to Workers. Later, when the Advances'to Settlers' Bill was before the House, Mr. Massey moved an amendment that £250,000 be provided for advances -to workers. That amendment he (Sir Joseph Ward) did not accept, because he wanted all the money, provided for in the : Bill for settlers, and if he had agreed to the amendment the settlers would have had to go without £250,000. Ho had subsequently brought down a Bill to provide for advances to workers, so that the.claim of Mr. Massey that he was responsible for the reform was a spurious one. Mr. Massey had had no more to do with it than' the man in the moon.

■ Cost of Living. The present Government had hot reduced the cost of living. In faot, it had gone up enormously. - What about the war? asked somebody. Sir J. Ward: Why, the war only started in August. ... 'What about the strike, then? asked tho same questioner. This, Sir Joseph Ward did not answer, but instead he said this: "It is' no go making any 'of those inane impotent remarks to me." He went on to say that his party had been side by. side with the Government; and had said nothing at all about what the Government had done about the war. A voice: Wlmt could you say? Sir Joseph Ward said that when his party was in power, war or no war, they would remove all the duties from all foodstuffs. , (Applause.) Hβ also, condemned the Government's methods of regulating the prices of flour and sugar since the outbreak of war.

Public Service. Referring to tho Publio Service, ho said that somo of the service were satisfied, he know. "But," he continued, "I want to say this, that the Liberal Party of this country will put the Publio Service again under the control of the Parliament of this country." • Hβ declared that under the present system o. good deal of friction was being caused by the transfer of men from one Department to another, with tho work of which they were not familiar. A good deal was being made by the Reformers of the fact that ho had on one occasion carried out somo retrenohmont in the service. "That occurred," lie snid, "when a tight timo occurred, years and years ago. The tight time occurred, and wo had to act in many ways in respect to it. But the moment it was over we put tho whole of tho people concerned back into the positions they held before." The Reform Party, he said, had taken bits out of the Liberal policy, and called it their policy. And in Jooking round for a "cry" they had

hit upon the strike. Tho Government declared they had got no assistance from tho Opposition in connection with the strike. As a matter of fact the Government bungled that strike. They had handed over control of the country to a committee consisting of one class in the community only. No retailer iros allowed to bo on it, no farmer was on it, no worker was on. it. Tho idea was to provoke and extend the strike for other reasons. Hβ believed that if he had been in office he could have settled the striko in two days. They Said It Was "Silly." He referred to the baby bonus, complaining that his opponents said it wae "silly." The object of it, he said, was to inculcate thrift in the minds of parents. Sir J. Q- Ward proceeded to rofer to his proposals in regard to amendments to the Trades Union Act and to tho Education Act, and to his scheme for a State" ferry service between Wellington and Picton when the Main South line was completed.

The Naval Question. Last of all he epoke of the local navy on the lines of previous speeches, suggesting that questions of the naval defenco of the Empire should be held over until after the war. Ho did not believe New Zealand could afford the expense of a local navy, and he did think New Zealand should increase her contribution to tho Navy, and pay the wages of New Zealanders employed on ships of the British Navy. (Applause.) A vote of thanks and confidence was moved by Mr. W. T .Hildreth, seconded by Mr. J. J. M'Grath, and was carried on a show of hands. There were only some six or eight hands held up for the "noes," but in spite of promptings of peoplo oil the stage that there were none, the ohairman would not ignore them, and would not declare the motion carried unanimously. Cheers were given for Sir Joseph Ward, for the Liberal Party, and Liberal candidates in Wellington. .